17. The Lord our God himself brought us and our parents up out of Egypt. He brought us out of that land where we were slaves. With our own eyes, we saw those great and miraculous signs he did. He kept us safe on our entire journey. He kept us safe as we traveled through all of the nations.
18. He drove them out to make room for us. That included the Amorites. They also lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord. That's because he is our God."
19. Joshua spoke to the people. He said, "You aren't able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He won't forgive you when you disobey him. He won't forgive you when you sin against him.
20. "Suppose you desert the Lord. Suppose you serve the gods that people in other lands serve. If you do, he will turn against you. He will bring trouble on you. He will destroy you, even though he has been good to you."
21. But the people spoke to Joshua. They said, "No! We will serve the Lord."
22. Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves. You have said that you have chosen to serve the Lord." "Yes. We are witnesses," they replied.
23. "Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the gods that are among you. People from other lands serve those gods. Give yourselves completely to the Lord, the God of Israel."
24. Then the people spoke to Joshua. They said, "We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey him."
25. On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people. There at Shechem he wrote down rules and laws for them.
26. He recorded those things in the Scroll of the Law of God. Then he got a large stone. He set it up in Shechem under the oak tree. It was near the place that had been set apart for the Lord.
27. "Look!" he said to all of the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all of the words the Lord has spoken to us. Suppose you aren't true to your God. Then the stone will be a witness against you."
28. Joshua sent the people away. He sent all of them to their own shares of land.
29. Then Joshua, the servant of the Lord, died. He was the son of Nun. He was 110 years old when he died.
30. His people buried his body at Timnath Serah on his own property. It's north of Mount Gaash in the hill country of Ephraim.
31. Israel served the Lord as long as Joshua lived. They also served him as long as the elders lived. Those were the elders who lived longer than Joshua did. They had seen for themselves everything the Lord had done for Israel.
32. The people of Israel had brought Joseph's bones up from Egypt. They buried his bones at Shechem in the piece of land Jacob had bought. He had bought it from the sons of Hamor. He had paid 100 pieces of silver for it. Hamor was the father of Shechem. That piece of land became the share that belonged to Joseph's children after him.