Joshua 24 Summary

Joshua assembles all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, where he delivers a sweeping recital of God's saving acts from the call of Abraham through the conquest of Canaan, emphasizing that every victory was God's work rather than Israel's own. He then calls the people to choose whom they will serve, declaring that he and his household will serve the LORD; the people affirm three times their commitment to serve the LORD alone. Joshua formalizes the people's pledge into a covenant, records its terms in the book of the law, and erects a large stone under an oak as a witness against any future denial of God. The chapter closes with notices of the deaths and burials of Joshua at Timnath-serah, and of Eleazar the priest, as well as the burial of Joseph's bones at Shechem in fulfillment of the oath brought up from Egypt.