Study Desk

"One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who is fighting for you, just as He promised you.

"So be very careful and watchful of yourselves to love the LORD your God.

know and understand with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

"Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God has promised concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.

"It shall come about that just as every good word which the LORD your God spoke and promised to you has been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you every bad thing [about which He warned you], until He has destroyed and eliminated you from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

"When you transgress (violate) the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you [to follow], and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you."

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and for their judges and for their officers; they presented themselves before God.

Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, lived beyond the [Euphrates] River in ancient times; and they served other gods.

for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs (miracles) in our sight and kept us safe all along the way that we went and among all the peoples among whom we passed.

"The LORD drove all the peoples out from before us, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God."

Then Joshua said to the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD [if you serve any other gods], for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]. He will not forgive your transgression [of His law] or your sins.

"Now then, remove the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your hearts toward the LORD, the God of Israel."

The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and we will listen to and obey His voice."

And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was in [the courtyard of] the sanctuary of the LORD.

Joshua then said to all the people, "Look, this stone shall serve as a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us; so it shall be a witness against you, so that [afterward] you do not deny your God."

Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather up scraps of food under my table; as I have done [to others], so God has repaid me." So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

and they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from the gods of the peoples who were around them, and they bowed down to them, and offended and provoked the LORD to anger.

So they abandoned the LORD and served Baal [the pagan god of the Canaanites] and the Ashtaroth.

And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his [private] cool upper chamber, and Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." And the king got up from his seat.