12. As your army went forward, I sent the Hornet ahead of them and made the people leave the land, as I did to the two Amorite kings. It was not your swords and bows that brought you victory!
13. “‘I, the Lord, gave that land to you. You didn’t work for that land—I gave it to you. You did not build those cities—I gave them to you. And now you live in that land and in those cities. You have vineyards and olive trees, but you did not have to plant those gardens.’”
14. Then Joshua said to the people, “Now you have heard the Lord’s words. So you must respect the Lord and sincerely serve him. Throw away the false gods that your ancestors worshiped. That was something that happened a long time ago on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Now you must serve only the Lord.
15. “But maybe you don’t want to serve the Lord. You must choose for yourselves today. Today you must decide who you will serve. Will you serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River? Or will you serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land? You must choose for yourselves. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
16. Then the people answered, “We will never stop following the Lord. We will never serve other gods!
17. We know that it was the Lord God who brought our people out of Egypt. We were slaves in that land, but he did great things for us there. He brought us out of that land and protected us while we traveled through other lands.
18. The Lord helped us defeat the people living in these lands. He helped us defeat the Amorites who lived in this land where we are now. So we will continue to serve the Lord, because he is our God.”
19. Then Joshua said, “You will not be able to continue serving the Lord. God is holy. And God hates his people worshiping other gods. He will not forgive you if you turn against him like that.
20. If you leave the Lord and serve other gods, he will cause terrible things to happen to you. He will destroy you. He has been good to you, but if you turn against him he will destroy you.”
21. Then the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!”