Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, making statutes and ordinances in Shechem.

So Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins. If you abandon the LORD and serve foreign deities, then he will turn and do you harm, consuming you after all the good he has done for you." "No," the people replied to Joshua. "We will serve the LORD." read more.
Joshua responded, "You are giving testimony against yourselves, that you have chosen to serve the LORD." They replied, "We are witnesses!" Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." The people replied, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey his voice." So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, making statutes and ordinances in Shechem. He wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God, took a large stone, moved it under the shade of the oak tree that was near the sanctuary of the LORD, and then told all of the people, "Look! This stone will testify for us, because it has heard everything that the LORD has spoken to us. So it will stand as a witness against you in the event that you deny your God." Then Joshua dismissed the people, and each man returned to his territorial inheritance.


All the men from Shechem and Beth-millo gathered together and set up Abimelech as king near the pillar erected in Shechem.

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, making statutes and ordinances in Shechem. He wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God, took a large stone, moved it under the shade of the oak tree that was near the sanctuary of the LORD, and then told all of the people, "Look! This stone will testify for us, because it has heard everything that the LORD has spoken to us. So it will stand as a witness against you in the event that you deny your God."


Then Joshua assembled together all of the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He called for the leaders, officials, judges, and tribal officers of Israel. They assembled in formation before God, and Joshua told all of the people, "This is what the LORD God of Israel has to say: "Long ago your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River, including Terah, father of both Abraham and Nahor, where they served other gods. Then I took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the Euphrates River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I multiplied his descendants, and gave him his son Isaac. read more.
I gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac. And I gave Mount Seir to Esau as his possession, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. "Later I commissioned Moses and Aaron, and I inflicted plagues on Egypt by what I did among them. Afterwards, I brought all of you out. "Then I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and you came to the Sea, and the Egyptians followed your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Reed Sea. But when they cried out to the LORD, he placed darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon the Egyptians, and swallowed them up. Your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the desert for a long time. "I brought you into the territory of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan River. They fought you, but I gave them into your control, and you took possession of their land. I destroyed them from your presence. "Then Zippor's son, King Balak of Moab, showed up and fought against Israel. He sent word to Balaam, summoning Beor's son to put a curse on you. But I wasn't willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his control. "Next, you crossed the Jordan River and arrived at Jericho. But the citizens of Jericho fought you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, so I gave them into your control. "Then I sent hornets ahead of you to drive out two kings of the Amorites before you without your using either sword or bow. I gave you a land for which you never worked and cities that you didn't build, but that you have lived in. You're eating from vineyards and olive groves that you didn't plant.' "Now you must fear the LORD and serve him in faithfulness and truth. Throw away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Instead, serve the LORD. If you think it's the wrong thing for you to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve the gods whom your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose territories you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." In response, the people said, "Far be it from us that we should abandon the LORD to serve other gods, since the LORD our God is the one who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery. He did those great things right in front of us, preserving us along the way that we traveled and among all the nations through whose territory we passed. The LORD expelled all the people before us, including the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore, we also will serve the LORD, since he is our God." So Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins. If you abandon the LORD and serve foreign deities, then he will turn and do you harm, consuming you after all the good he has done for you." "No," the people replied to Joshua. "We will serve the LORD." Joshua responded, "You are giving testimony against yourselves, that you have chosen to serve the LORD." They replied, "We are witnesses!" Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." The people replied, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey his voice." So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, making statutes and ordinances in Shechem. He wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God, took a large stone, moved it under the shade of the oak tree that was near the sanctuary of the LORD, and then told all of the people, "Look! This stone will testify for us, because it has heard everything that the LORD has spoken to us. So it will stand as a witness against you in the event that you deny your God." Then Joshua dismissed the people, and each man returned to his territorial inheritance.


So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, making statutes and ordinances in Shechem.

Then Samuel took a stone, placed it between Mizpah and Shen and named it Ebenezer. He said, "The LORD has helped us this far."

Joshua set up the twelve stones that they had removed from the Jordan River at Gilgal. Then he told the Israelis, "When your descendants ask their parents in years to come, "What is the meaning of these stones?' you are to tell your descendants: "Israel crossed this Jordan River on dry ground read more.
because the LORD your God dried up the water of the Jordan River right in front of you, until you had crossed over, just as the LORD your God had done to the Reed Sea which he had dried up in front of us until we had crossed it also.' Do this so that all of the people of the earth may know how strong the power of the LORD is, and so that you may fear the LORD your God every day."

When Jacob got up early the next morning, he took the stone that he had used for his pillow, set it up as a pillar, drenched it with oil, and named the place Beth-el, although previously the city had been named Luz. Then he made this solemn vow: "If God remains with me, watches over me throughout this journey that I'm taking, gives me food to eat and clothes to wear, read more.
and returns me safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God, this stone that I've erected in the form of a pillar will be God's house, and I'll give you a tenth of everything that you give to me."

So Jacob took a stone and raised it as a pillar. Then Jacob told his relatives, "Go gather some stones." So they picked up stones and stacked them one on top of the other. Then they had a meal together there by the stack of stones. Laban named the place Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed. read more.
Then Laban said, "This stack will serve as a witness between you and me today." That's how the place came to be named Galeed. It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, "May the LORD watch between you and me, when we are estranged from each other. If you mistreat my daughters or if you take other wives besides them, though no one is watching us, keep in mind that God stands as a witness between you and me." "Look!" Laban added, "Here is the stack of stones and here is the pillar that I've set up between you and me. This stack is a witness, and so is this pillar, reminding me not to cross beyond this stack of stones, and reminding you not to pass by this stack in my direction, intending to cause harm.

"Gather together twelve men from the people one man from each tribe and tell them, "Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests' feet were standing, bring them along with you, and put them down where you camp tonight.'" So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had chosen from the people of Israel, one man from each tribe. read more.
Joshua told them, "Cross over again in front of the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan River. Then each of you pick up a stone on his shoulder with which to build a memorial, one for each of the tribes of Israel. Let this serve as a sign among you, so that when your children ask in times to come, "What do these stones mean to you,' then you'll say to them, "Because the waters of the Jordan River were cut off in front of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan River, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.' So these stones will become a memorial to the Israelis forever." The Israelis did just as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River just as the LORD had spoken to Joshua according to the number of the tribes of the Israelis, and they carried them over to where they would be pitching camp, and they put them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan River at the location where the feet of the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant had been standing, and they remain there to this day.