Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve

1. After many days, when Yahweh had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, 2. Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, “I am old and well advanced in years. 3. You have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is Yahweh your God who has fought for you. 4. Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun. 5. Yahweh your God will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as Yahweh your God spoke to you. 6. “Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn away from it to the right hand or to the left; 7. that you not come among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them; 8. but hold fast to Yahweh your God, as you have done to this day. 9. “For Yahweh has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. 10. One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is Yahweh your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you. 11. Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love Yahweh your God. 12. “But if you do at all go back, and hold fast to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you; 13. know for a certainty that Yahweh your God will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you. 14. “Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it. 15. It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so Yahweh will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you, 16. when you disobey the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them. Then Yahweh’s anger will be kindled against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you.” 1. Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2. Joshua said to all the people, “Yahweh says, the God of Israel, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods. 3. I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Isaac. 4. I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5. “‘I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6. I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea. 7. When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days. 8. “‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10. but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11. “‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. 12. I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. 13. I gave you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’ 14. “Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh. 15. If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.” 16. The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods; 17. for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. 18. Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God.” 19. Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. 20. If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.” 21. The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” 22. Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.” 23. “Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” 24. The people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.” 25. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26. Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. 27. Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all Yahweh’s words which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” 28. So Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance. 29. After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old. 30. They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 31. Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Yahweh, that he had worked for Israel. 32. They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. 33. Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2. to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4. having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have toward all the saints, 5. because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News, 6. which has come to you; even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7. even as you learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8. who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. 9. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10. that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11. strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy; 12. giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; 13. who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love; 14. in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins; 15. who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16. For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. 17. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. 18. He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19. For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him; 20. and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross. 21. You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, 22. yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him, 23. if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant. 24. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly; 25. of which I was made a servant, according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you, to fulfill the word of God, 26. the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, 27. to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; 28. whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus; 29. for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. 1. For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; 2. that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3. in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden. 4. Now this I say that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech. 5. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. 6. As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him, 7. rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving. 8. Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ. 9. For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily, 10. and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power; 11. in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; 12. having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13. You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14. wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross; 15. having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 16. Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, 17. which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s. 18. Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshiping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19. and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth. 20. If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances, 21. “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch” 22. (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men? 23. Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh. 1. If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. 5. Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; 6. for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. 7. You also once walked in those, when you lived in them; 8. but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. 9. Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10. and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, 11. where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all. 12. Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13. bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. 14. Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. 15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. 17. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him. 18. Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19. Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them. 20. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord. 21. Fathers, don’t provoke your children, so that they won’t be discouraged. 22. Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. 23. And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, 24. knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25. But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality. 1. Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. 2. Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving; 3. praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds; 4. that I may reveal it as I ought to speak. 5. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. 7. All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord. 8. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, 9. together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here. 10. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”), 11. and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me. 12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 13. For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. 14. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you. 15. Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house. 16. When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17. Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.” 18. The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.

1. Hear my voice, God, in my complaint. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 2. Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil; 3. who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words, 4. to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly. 5. They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?” 6. They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning. 7. But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow. 8. Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake their heads. 9. All mankind shall be afraid. They shall declare the work of God, and shall wisely ponder what he has done. 10. The righteous shall be glad in Yahweh, and shall take refuge in him. All the upright in heart shall praise him!