Joshua Speaks to the People at Shechem
1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem. He called the elders, the leaders, the judges, and the officers of Israel, and they came into the presence of God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has to say: ‘Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. One of those ancestors was Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor. 3 Then I took Abraham, your ancestor, from the land across the Euphrates and led him through the whole land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Edom as his possession, but your ancestor Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 Later I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought great trouble on Egypt. But I led you out; 6 I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and cavalry. But when your ancestors got to the Red Sea 7 they cried out to me for help, and I put darkness between them and the Egyptians. I made the sea come rolling over the Egyptians and drown them. You know what I did to Egypt.
“‘You lived in the desert a long time. 8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the east side of the Jordan. They fought you, but I gave you victory over them. You took their land, and I destroyed them as you advanced. 9 Then the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, fought against you. He sent word to Balaam son of Beor and asked him to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you, and in this way I rescued you from Balak. 11 You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought you, as did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I gave you victory over them all. 12 As you advanced, I threw them into panic in order to drive out the two Amorite kings. Your swords and bows had nothing to do with it. 13 I gave you a land that you had never worked and cities that you had not built. Now you are living there and eating grapes from vines that you did not plant, and olives from trees that you did not plant.’
14 “Now then,” Joshua continued, “honor the Lord and serve him sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods which your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord. 15 If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve the Lord.”
16 The people replied, “We would never leave the Lord to serve other gods! 17 The Lord our God brought our fathers and us out of slavery in Egypt, and we saw the miracles that he performed. He kept us safe wherever we went among all the nations through which we passed. 18 As we advanced into this land, the Lord drove out all the Amorites who lived here. So we also will serve the Lord; he is our God.”
19 Joshua said to the people, “But you may not be able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God and will not forgive your sins. He will tolerate no rivals, 20 and if you leave him to serve foreign gods, he will turn against you and punish you. He will destroy you, even though he was good to you before.”
21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
22 Joshua told them, “You are your own witnesses to the fact that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes,” they said, “we are witnesses.”
23 “Then get rid of those foreign gods that you have,” he demanded, “and pledge your loyalty to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 The people then said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey his commands.”
25 So Joshua made a covenant for the people that day, and there at Shechem he gave them laws and rules to follow. 26 Joshua wrote these commands in the book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in the Lord's sanctuary. 27 He said to all the people, “This stone will be our witness. It has heard all the words that the Lord has spoken to us. So it will be a witness against you, to keep you from rebelling against your God.” 28 Then Joshua sent the people away, and everyone returned to their own part of the land.
Joshua and Eleazar Die
29 After that, the Lord's servant Joshua son of Nun died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 They buried him on his own land at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.
31 As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the Lord, and after his death they continued to do so as long as those leaders were alive who had seen for themselves everything that the Lord had done for Israel.
32 The body of Joseph, which the people of Israel had brought from Egypt, was buried at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver. This land was inherited by Joseph's descendants.
33 Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, the town in the hill country of Ephraim which had been given to his son Phinehas.
Josua tu uvithile oshigwana muShekem
1 Josua okwa gongele omazimo agehe gaIsrael puShekem. Okwi ithana aakuluntu, aawiliki, aatokolihapu naambala yaIsrael, oyo noya holoka miipathi yaKalunga. 2 Josua okwa ti koshigwana ashihe: “Omuwa Kalunga kaIsrael ota ti: ‘Nalenale oohokulu oya li ya kala handiyaka yomulonga Eufrat noya simaneke iikalunga. Gumwe gwawo oTera, he yaAbraham naNahor. 3 Nena onda kutha hokulu Abraham handiyaka yaEufrat nonde mu enditha a taakana evi alihe lyaKaanan. Onde mu pe oluvalo olwindji. Onde mu pe Isak, 4 naIsak onde mu pe Jakob naEsau. Esau onde mu pe evi lyokoondundu dhaEdom, li ninge eliko lye, ihe hokulu Jakob noyana oya yi kuEgipiti. 5 Konale onda ka tuma Moses nAaron nonda tumine Egipiti uudhigu uunene. Ihe onde mu tembudha mo. 6 Onda tembudha oohokulu muEgipiti, nAayegipiti oye ya landula nomatembakwiita naakawilinkambe. Ihe oohokulu sho ye ya pEfuta etiligane, 7 oya kugile ndje onkugo, ndi ya kwathe, nonda tula omilema pokati kawo nAayegipiti. Onda wayulile Aayegipiti efuta nonde ya li omeya. Omu shi shi shoka nda ningile Aayegipiti.
“ ‘Omwa kala mombuga ethimbo ele. 8 Nena onde mu eta mevi lyAayamori, mboka ya kala kuuzilo waJordan. Oye mu kondjitha, ihe onde ye mu sinditha. Omwa kutha po evi lyawo, nonde ya yonagula po komeho geni. 9 Nena omukwaniilwa gwaMoab, Balak yaZippor, okwe mu kondjitha. Okwa tumu elaka kuBileam yaBeor, e mu thinge. 10 Ihe ngame inandi pulakena nando Bileam, onkee okwe mu yambeke, nonde mu yululula kuBalak. 11 Omwa tokola Jordan nomwe ya kuJeriko. Aalumentu yaJeriko oye mu kondjitha, ngashika wo Aayamori, Aaperesi, Aakaanana, Aaheti, Aagirgashi, Aahevi nAayebusi. Ihe onde ye mu sinditha ayehe. 12 Onda tumu omambonzi ge mu tetekele noga tidha po aakwaniilwa mbeyaka yaali Aayamori. Shika inashi ningwa komagongamwele geni nokomatati geni. 13 Onde mu pe evi ndyoka inaamu li kokola, niilando mbyoka inaamu yi tunga. Ngashingeyi omo mu li tamu li omandjembele gomiviinu ndhoka inaamu dhi tsika, nomu na ooholivi dhomiti inaamu dhi kuna.’ ”
14 Josua okwa tsikile: “Ngashingeyi nduno simanekeni Omuwa noku mu longela mevuliko nomuudhiginini. Mangulukeni kiikalunga mbyoka oohokulu ye yi simaneke muMesopotamia nomuEgipiti, mu longele Omuwa awike. 15 Ngele inamu hala okulongela Omuwa, tokoleni nena ndjika ngoka tamu longele; ongele iikalunga yoohokulu yomuMesopotamia nenge mbyoka yAayamori mboka mwa kala mevi lyawo. Ihe ngame negumbo lyandje, tse otatu longele Omuwa.”
16 Oshigwana osha yamukula: “Katu na mpoka tatu etha Omuwa, tse tu longele iikalunga. 17 Omuwa Kalunga ketu okwa tembudha ootate natse muupika womuEgipiti, otse notwa mono iinyengandunge mbyoka a ningi. Oye e tu gamene shaa mpoka twa yi mokati kiigwana ayihe mbyoka twa pitilile. 18 Sho twe ya mevi ndika, Omuwa okwa tidha po Aayamori ayehe ya kala mpaka. Onkee natse wo otatu longele Omuwa, oshoka oye Kalunga ketu.”
19 Josua okwa ti koshigwana: “Ihe itamu vulu okulongela Omuwa, oye Kalunga omuyapuki noita dhimi po oondjo dheni. Ita vulu okwiidhidhimikila ookalunga yalwe, 20 nongele tamu mu etha, mu longele iikalunga yiigwana mbyoka, nena ote mu pilukile e te mu geele. Ote mu thekeke po, nonando okwa li nale omwaanawa kune.”
21 Oshigwana osha ti kuJosua: “Aawe! Otatu longele Omuwa.”
22 Josua okwa ti kuyo: “One oonzapo kune yene moshinima shika, sho mwa hogolola okulongela Omuwa.”
Oya yamukula ya ti: “Eeno, osho tu li.”
23 Okwa ti: “Etheni nduno iikalunga yiigwana mbyoka, ne mu igandje mevuliko kOmuwa, Kalunga kaIsrael.”
24 Oshigwana osha yamukula Josua: “Tse otatu longele Omuwa Kalunga ketu. Otatu vulika kiipango ye.”
25 Onkee esiku ndyoka Josua okwa ningi ehangano noshigwana nokwe ya pele muShekem iipango nomautho, ye ga landule. 26 Josua okwa nyola iipango mbika membo lyompango yaKalunga. Nena okwa kutha emanya enene e te li dhike momwandi gwopuuyapuki wOmuwa. 27 Okwa ti koshigwana ashihe: “Emanya ndika otali kala onzapo yetu. Olyu uvu oohapu adhihe ndhoka Omuwa e dhi tu lombwele. Olyo onzapo yoku mu pangula, ngele otamu tukulile Kalunga keni oshipotha.” 28 Nena Josua okwa laleke oshigwana, noya shuna kehe gumwe koshitopolwa shezimo lye.
Josua naEleasar taa si
29 Konima yaambika omumati gwOmuwa Josua yaNun okwa sile muukulupe wepipi lyomimvo ethele nomulongo. 30 Oye mu fumvike mevi lye mwene puTimnat Sera mevi lyokoondundu dhaEfraim kuumbangalantu wondundu Gaash.
31 Josua manga a li e na omwenyo, oshigwana shaIsrael osha longele Omuwa. Osho sha li pethimbo lyaawiliki ayehe mboka ya li ya mono yo yene shoka Omuwa e shi ningile Israel.
32 Iipongo yaJosef, mbyoka Aaisraeli ye yi etelele okuza nayo kuEgipiti, oye yi fumvike puShekem, meyana ndyoka Jakob e li landele niimaliwa yiisiliveli ethele limwe kaana yaHamor, he yaShekem. Eyana ndika olya ningi eliko lyoluvalo lwaJosef.
33 Eleasar lyAaron okwa mana oondjenda nokwa fumvikwa puGibea, oshilando shomevi lyokoondundu dhaEfraim shoka sha adhika sha pewa omwana Pinehas.
