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.
Musidzigwa kwe Tjidumano ku Shekemu
1 Kudwapo Joshuwa kakubunganya njudzi dzose dze Baiziraela ku nzi we Shekemu, kadana bakulu ne batungamili ne basumikilisi ne makombgwa e Baiziraela ngono bakazha mbeli kwe Ndzimu. 2 Ipapo Joshuwa kadwa bathu bose kati, “Etji nditjo tjinolebgwa ndi Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela, ntolo tjose bobatategulu benyu bo Tera tate ba Abhurahama na Nahori bakabe begala seli kwe gwizi gwe Yufuratesi bakabe bethigamila midzimu. 3 Koga ndakatola batategulu benyu Abhurahama mu shango i seli kwe gwizi abatungamila ndibapalamisa shango yose ye Kanana kakale abapa zwizekugwana zwinjinji. Ndakabapa Isaki, 4 ngono Isaki iye ampa Jakubo na Esau. Ndakapa Esau shango ye matombo ye Seiri ngono Jakubo ne bakololo babe bakayenda ku Egipiti.”
5 “Ngono kudwapo ndakatuma Mushe na Aroni, ndikatumila tjiga ku Egipiti nge tjandakathama pakati kwabo, koga imwi amudusa mu Egipiti. 6 Ndakati ndidusa bobatategulu benyu mu Egipiti bakayenda bakaswika pa gungwa ngono Baegipiti bakabatobela nge koloyi dze ngwa nenge mbizi kudza benoti ku Gungwa Shaba. 7 Koga bobatategulu benyu bakandililila bekumbila bhatsho ngono ndakabiga zhalima pakati kwabo ne Baegipiti. Ngono kwakati Baegipiti beti banotjulukabo, amilidza vula ye gungwa ikabakwididza bakafa makazwibonela nge mesho enyu tjakashingikalila Baegipiti.
“ ‘Makadwapo mu gala mu tjilambanyika kwe tjibaka tjilefu. 8 Ndakamuzhisa mu shango ye Baamori bakabe begala ku bhezhuba kwe gwizi gwe Jorodani. Bakagwa namwi ngono athama kuti mu bakunde. Ndakabalobesa mbeli kwenyu ngono mukatola shango yabo. 9 Ngono Balaka nkololo wa Zipori mambo we Moabu kazwilulwamisila ngwa ne Baiziraela, katuma Bhalamu nkololo wa Bheori kuti alonge bhiso mu muli, 10 andizoteedza Bhalamu, ndizo mu bumo gwe bhiso kamukombolela ngono amusunungula mu mishingo iye. 11 Makati mutjuluka gwizi gwe Jorodani muzha ku Jerikho, bagali be Jerikho ne Baamoni ne Baperizi ne Bakanana ne Bahiti ne Bagirigashi ne Bahivi ne Bajebusi bakagwa namwi ngono athama kuti mubakunde. 12 Amuzokunda nge kwenyu, ndakatumila mago mbeli kwenyu akamutatila bomambo be Baamori babili. 13 Ndakamupa minda dzabo dzamusakashinga tjimwe mudzili ne mizi yabo mikulu yamusakabaka koga mogala muili kakale muja mitjelo ye minda dze zhambi ne dze mitoba dzamusakalima.’ ”
14 “Ndizoke itjani Yahwe mubashingile kakale mu bagalemoyo nge mimoyo yenyu yose. Dusilani kutjena midzimu ya bobatategulu benyu yabakabe bethigamila seli kwe gwizi ne mu Egipiti, munamate Yahwe. 15 Koga amubona kwakabipa kushingila Yahwe muzwishaluligwe muna la nasi kuti moshingila ani, kuti kene moshingila midzimu ya bobatategulu benyu baseli kwe gwizi kene midzimu ye Baamori ibo bamunogala mu shango yabo, koga imi ne be nsha wangu towoshingila Yahwe.”
16 Ngono bathu bakadabila beti, “Ngakube kutjena naswi kuti tingafupatila Yahwe tikathigamila midzimu ipoga! 17 Yahwe Ndzimu wedu ndibo bakatidusa iswi na bobatategulu bedu mu busungwa mu shango ye Egipiti, ndibo zwabo bakathama zwilakidzo zwinotjenamisa mbeli kwedu. Bakatibakilila kudwa tjose tilimu gwendo, bakatibakilila tili pakati kwe zwitjaba zwatakabe tipalama. 18 Yahwe bakatatila kutjena naswi zwitjaba zose ne Baamori bakabe begala mu shango iyeyi tjibaka itjetjo. Naswibo towoshingila Yahwe ngoti ndibo Ndzimu wedu.”
19 Joshuwa kashandula kati, “Amungatubule kushingila Yahwe nge kuti ba Ndzimu wakayengemala, ba Ndzimu una fupa. Abanga muzwiibhatigwe bupanduki kene matjinyo enyu. 20 Ha mufupatila Yahwe mube mushingila midzimu ipoga, banowomushandukila bakamuthamila zwakabipa bakamulobesa, nenguba bakatongo muthamila zwakanaka.” 21 Koga bathu bakadwa Joshuwa bakati, “Aa, towoshingila Yahwe!”
22 Joshuwa kabe eti, “Mmwe ne mmwe wenyu ipapa ntendeki kuti mazwishalulila kushingila Yahwe.”
Ngono bakashandula beti “Ee, ti batendeki.”
23 Joshuwa kabe eti, “Ngono ngwenu lashilani kutjena midzimu yenyu yamunayo ngono mupe Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela mimoyo yenyu.”
24 Ngono bathu bakadwa Joshuwa beti, “Towoshingila Yahwe Ndzimu wedu kakale towobahwa.”
25 Ndizo mu zhuba ilelo Joshuwa kathama Tjidumano ne Baiziraela ku Shekemu, kathama milayo kabapa iyo. 26 Ngono Joshuwa kakwala zwithu zose izwezwi mu Lukwalo gwe Nlayo we Ndzimu. Kudwapo katola bgwe gulu gulu kalibiga kusi kwe nti nkulu we pakayengemala mu bugalo gwakayengemala gwa Yahwe.
27 Kudwapo Joshuwa kabadwa kati, “Bonani bgwe ileli, ntendeki wedu, lahwa matama wose atabudziwa ndi Yahwe. Lowobe ntendeki ha musina malebeswa ku Ndzimu wenyu.”
28 Ndizo Joshuwa kapaladza bathu bakayenda ku magalo abo.
Joshuwa na Eleazari banofa
29 Shule kwe zwithu izwezwi zose Joshuwa nkololo wa Nuni, nlanda wa Yahwe kafa abe ne makole ali zana ling'ompela lina ali gumi (110). 30 Baiziraela bakambiganya mu shango ye Timinatisera ili shango ye matombo ye Ifureimi ku bunandzwa gwe Dombo le Gaashi, shango yakabe ili thaka iye.
31 Baiziraela bakashingila Yahwe, tjibaka tjose tja Joshuwa atjatjila ne tjibaka tje bakulu bose baakasiya be tjila bakabe beziba mishingo yakashingigwa Baiziraela ndi Yahwe.
32 Mafupa a Josefa akabe atogwa ne Baiziraela ku Egipiti, kabiganyiwa ku Shekemu, pa ntuthu wakabe watengwa ndi Jakubo mu bana ba Hamori tate ba Shekemu nge themba inobhata dzi siliva dzili zana (100). Ngono ipapa kukabe thaka ye bana ba Josefa.
33 Ngono Eleazari nkololo wa Aroni kafa ngono kabiganyiwa ku nzi we Gibiya wakabe wapiwa nkololo uwe Finihasi mu shango ye matombo ye Ifureimi.