1. And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem; he summoned the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officials, and they presented themselves before God.
2. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘Long ago your ancestors—Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor—lived beyond the river, and they served other gods.
3. I took your ancestor Abraham from beyond the river and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I increased his offspring; I gave him Isaac,
4. and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
5. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.
6. When I brought out your ancestors from Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.
7. They cried out to Yahweh, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and he brought the sea over them and covered them; your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the wilderness for many days.
8. And I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan; they fought you, and I gave them into your hand; you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.
9. Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you,
10. but I was not willing to listen to Balaam, and he richly blessed you. So I rescued you from his hand,
11. and you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the citizens of Jericho, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, fought against you, and I gave them into your hand.
12. I sent before you the hornet and they drove out before you two kings of the Amorites; but not by your sword or bow.
13. I gave to you a land that you have not labored on, and cities that you have not built, and you live in them; you eat from vineyards and olive groves that you have not planted.’
14. “So now, revere Yahweh and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; remove the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh.
15. But if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh.”