8. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
9. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
10. But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
11. And you went over the Jordan, and came
12. And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with your sword, nor with your bow.
13. And I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you built not, and you dwell in them; of the vineyards and olive yards which you planted not do you eat.
14. Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, and in Egypt; and serve you the LORD.
15. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
16. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
17. For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
18. And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
19. And Joshua said unto the people, You cannot serve the LORD: for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
20. If you forsake the LORD, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after that he has done you good.
21. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.
22. And Joshua said unto the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.
23. Now therefore put away, said he, the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.
24. And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
25. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
26. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.