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!”
22. Then Joshua said, “Look around at yourselves and the people with you. Do you all know and agree that you have chosen to serve the Lord? Are you all witnesses to this?” The people answered, “Yes, it is true. We all see that we have chosen to serve the Lord.”
23. Then Joshua said, “So throw away the false gods that you have among you. Love the Lord, the God of Israel, with all your heart.”
24. Then the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey him.”
25. So that day Joshua made an agreement for the people. He made this agreement at the town called Shechem. It became a law for them to follow.
26. Joshua wrote these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he found a large stone to be the proof of this agreement. He put the stone under the oak tree near the Lord’S Holy Tent.