2. And Yehoshua said to all the people, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Long ago your fathers dwelt beyond the River – Teraḥ, the father of Aḇraham and the father of Naḥor. And they served other mighty ones.b
3. ‘So I took your father Aḇraham from beyond the River, and caused him to go through all the land of Kena‛an, and multiplied his offspring and gave him Yitsḥaq.
4. ‘And to Yitsḥaq I gave Ya‛aqoḇ and Ěsaw. And to Ěsaw I gave the mountains of Sĕ‛ir to possess, but Ya‛aqoḇ and his children went down to Mitsrayim.
5. ‘Then I sent Mosheh and Aharon, and plagued Mitsrayim, as I did in their midst. And afterward I brought you out.
6. ‘And I brought your fathers out of Mitsrayim, and you came to the sea. And the Mitsrians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Sea of Reeds.
7. ‘And they cried out to יהוה, and He put thick darkness between you and the Mitsrians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Mitsrayim. And you dwelt in the wilderness a long time.
8. ‘And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt beyond the Yardĕn, and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, and you possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you.
9. ‘And Balaq son of Tsippor, sovereign of Mo’aḇ, rose up and fought against Yisra’ĕl, and sent and called for Bil‛am son of Be‛or to curse you.
10. ‘But I refused to listen to Bil‛am, so he continued to bless you, and I delivered you out of his hand.
11. ‘And you passed over the Yardĕn and came to Yeriḥo. And the masters of Yeriḥo, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Kena‛anite, and the Ḥittite, and the Girgashite, and the Ḥiwwite, and the Yeḇusite fought against you. But I gave them into your hand.
12. ‘And I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two sovereigns of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow.
13. ‘And I gave you a land for which you did not labour, and cities which you did not build. And you dwell in them, you eat of the vineyards and olive-trees which you did not plant.’
14. “And now, fear יהוה, serve Him in perfection and in truth, and put away the mighty ones which your fathers served beyond the River and in Mitsrayim, and serve יהוה!
15. “And if it seems evil in your eyes to serve יהוה, choose for yourselves this day whom you are going to serve, whether the mighty ones which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the mighty ones of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But I and my house, we serve יהוה.”
16. And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us to forsake יהוה, to serve other mighty ones,
17. for יהוה our Elohim is He who has brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs before our eyes, and has guarded us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.
18. “And יהוה drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We too serve יהוה, for He is our Elohim.”
19. Then Yehoshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve יהוה, for He is a set-apart Elohim, a jealous Ěl is He. He does not bear with your transgression and with your sins,