The Covenant at Shechem^(A)

24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to ^(B)Shechem and ^(C)called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they ^(D)presented themselves before God. ² And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ^(E)‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of ^[a]the River in old times; and ^(F)they served other gods. ^3 (G)Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of ^[b]the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his ^[c]descendants and ^(H)gave him Isaac. ⁴ To Isaac I gave ^(I)Jacob and Esau. To ^(J)Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, ^(K)but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. ^5 (L)Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and ^(M)I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out.

⁶ ‘Then I ^(N)brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. ⁷ So they cried out to the Lord; and He put ^(O)darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And ^(P)your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness ^(Q)a long time. ⁸ And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, ^(R)and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. ⁹ Then ^(S)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and ^(T)sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. ^10 (U)But I would not listen to Balaam; ^(V)therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand. ¹¹ Then ^(W)you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And ^(X)the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. ^12 (Y)I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but ^(Z)not with your sword or with your bow. ¹³ I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and ^(AA)cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

^14 (AB)“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in ^(AC)sincerity and in truth, and ^(AD)put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of ^[d]the River and ^(AE)in Egypt. Serve the Lord! ¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, ^(AF)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether ^(AG)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of ^[e]the River, or ^(AH)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. ^(AI)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶ So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷ 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, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. ^(AJ)We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, ^(AK)“You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a ^(AL)holy God. He is ^(AM)a jealous God; ^(AN)He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. ^20 (AO)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, ^(AP)then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

²¹ And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!”

²² So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that ^(AQ)you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.”

And they said, “We are witnesses!”

²³ “Now therefore,” he said, ^(AR)“put away the foreign gods which are among you, and ^(AS)incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”

²⁴ And the people ^(AT)said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”

²⁵ So Joshua ^(AU)made^[f] a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance ^(AV)in Shechem.

²⁶ Then Joshua ^(AW)wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took ^(AX)a large stone, and ^(AY)set it up there ^(AZ)under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. ²⁷ And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be ^(BA)a witness to us, for ^(BB)it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” ²⁸ So ^(BC)Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.

Death of Joshua and Eleazar

^29 (BD)Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old. ³⁰ And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at ^(BE)Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

^31 (BF)Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had ^(BG)known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.

^32 (BH)The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground ^(BI)which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred ^[g]pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.

³³ And ^(BJ)Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to ^(BK)Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

The Damascus Road: Saul Converted^(A)

9 Then ^(B)Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ² and asked ^(C)letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

^3 (D)As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. ⁴ Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, ^(E)why are you persecuting Me?”

⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ^[a]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

⁶ So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷ And ^(F)the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Ananias Baptizes Saul

¹⁰ Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus ^(G)named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.”

And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul ^(H)of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. ¹² And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

¹³ Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(I)how much ^[b]harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all ^(J)who call on Your name.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(K)he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before ^(L)Gentiles, ^(M)kings, and the ^(N)children^[c] of Israel. ¹⁶ For ^(O)I will show him how many things he must suffer for My ^(P)name’s sake.”

^17 (Q)And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and ^(R)laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord ^[d]Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and ^(S)be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

¹⁹ So when he had received food, he was strengthened. ^(T)Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

Saul Preaches Christ

²⁰ Immediately he preached ^[e]the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

²¹ Then all who heard were amazed, and said, ^(U)“Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”

²² But Saul increased all the more in strength, ^(V)and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Saul Escapes Death

²³ Now after many days were past, ^(W)the Jews plotted to kill him. ^24 (X)But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. ²⁵ Then the disciples took him by night and ^(Y)let him down through the wall in a large basket.

Saul at Jerusalem

²⁶ And ^(Z)when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. ^27 (AA)But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, ^(AB)and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ So ^(AC)he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. ²⁹ And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the ^(AD)Hellenists,^{[f] (AE)}but they attempted to kill him. ³⁰ When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.

The Church Prospers

^31 (AF)Then the ^[g]churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were ^(AG)edified.^[h] And walking in the ^(AH)fear of the Lord and in the ^(AI)comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were ^(AJ)multiplied.