Study Desk

You have seen what the Lord did to our enemies. He did this to help us. The Lord your God fought for you.

But the Lord your God will force the people living there to leave. You will take that land. The Lord will force them to leave, just as he promised.

You must continue to follow the Lord your God. You have done this in the past, and you must continue to do it.

With his help, one man from Israel could defeat 1000 enemy soldiers, because the Lord your God fights for you, as he promised.

So you must continue to love the Lord your God.

the Lord your God will not help you defeat your enemies. They will become like a trap for you. They will cause you pain—like smoke and dust in your eyes. And you will be forced to leave this good land. The Lord your God gave you this land. But you can lose it if you don't obey this command.

"It is almost time for me to die. You know and really believe that the Lord has done many great things for you. You know that the Lord your God has not failed in any of his promises. He has kept every promise that he has made to us.

Every good promise that the Lord your God made to us has come true. But in the same way, the Lord will make his other promises come true: If you do wrong, bad things will happen to you. You will be forced to leave this good land that the Lord your God has given to you.

This will happen if you refuse to keep your agreement with the Lord your God. You will lose this land if you go and serve other gods. You must not worship those other gods. If you do, the Lord will become very angry with you. Then you will quickly be forced to leave this good land that he gave you."

Joshua called all the tribes of Israel to meet together at Shechem. Then Joshua called the older leaders, heads of the families, judges, and the officers of Israel. These men stood before God.

Then Joshua spoke to all the people. He said, "I am telling you what the Lord , the God of Israel, says to you: ‘A long time ago, your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. I am talking about men like Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor. At that time they worshiped other gods.

We know that it was the Lord God who brought our people out of Egypt. We were slaves in that land, but he did great things for us there. He brought us out of that land and protected us while we traveled through other lands.

The Lord helped us defeat the people living in these lands. He helped us defeat the Amorites who lived in this land where we are now. So we will continue to serve the Lord , because he is our God."

Then Joshua said, "You will not be able to continue serving the Lord . God is holy. And God hates his people worshiping other gods. He will not forgive you if you turn against him like that.

Then Joshua said, "So throw away the false gods that you have among you. Love the Lord , the God of Israel, with all your heart."

Then the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey him."

Joshua wrote these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he found a large stone to be the proof of this agreement. He put the stone under the oak tree near the Lord 's Holy Tent.

Then Joshua said to all the people, "This stone will help you remember what we said today. This stone was here when the Lord was speaking to us today. So this stone will be something that helps you remember what happened today. The stone will be a witness against you. It will stop you from turning against your God."

The men of Judah went to their relatives from the tribe of Simeon and asked for help. They said, "Brothers, if you will come and help us fight for the land God gave us, we will go and help you fight for your land." The men of Simeon agreed and went with them.

Then the ruler of Bezek said, "I cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings. And they had to eat pieces of food that fell from my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." The men of Judah took the ruler of Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there.