ቃል ኪዳኑ በሴኬም ታደሰ
1ከዚያም ኢያሱ የእስራኤልን ነገዶች ሁሉ በሴኬም ሰበሰበ፤ የእስራኤልንም ሽማግሌዎች፣ መሪዎች፣ ፈራጆችና ሹማምት ጠራ፤ እነርሱም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ቆሙ።
2ኢያሱም ሕዝቡን ሁሉ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘የቀድሞ አባቶቻችሁ፣ የአብርሃምንና የናኮርን አባት ታራን ጨምሮ ከብዙ ዘመን በፊት ከወንዙ ማዶ ኖሩ24፥2 በዚህ እንዲሁም ቍጥር 3፡14 እና 15 ላይ የተጠቀሰው የኤፍራጥስ ወንዝ ነው።፤ ሌሎችንም አማልክት አመለኩ። 3እኔ ግን አባታችሁን አብርሃምን ከወንዙ ማዶ ካለው ምድር አምጥቼ፣ በከነዓን ምድር ሁሉ መራሁት፤ ዘሮቹን አበዛሁለት፤ ይስሐቅንም ሰጠሁት። 4ለይስሐቅ ያዕቆብንና ዔሳውን ሰጠሁት፤ ለዔሳውም ኰረብታማውን የሴይርን ምድር ርስት አድርጌ ሰጠሁት፤ ያዕቆብና ልጆቹ ግን ወደ ግብፅ ወረዱ።
5“ ‘ከዚያም ሙሴንና አሮንን ላክሁ፤ ባመጣሁት መቅሠፍት ግብፃውያንን አስጨንቄ፣ እናንተን ከዚያ አወጣኋችሁ። 6አባቶቻችሁን ከግብፅ ባወጣኋቸው ጊዜ፣ ወደ ባሕሩ መጣችሁ፤ ግብፃውያንም በሠረገሎችና24፥6 ወይም ሠረገለኞች ተብሎ መተርጐም ይቻላል። በፈረሰኞች እስከ ቀይ ባሕር24፥6 ዕብራይስጡ ያም ሳውፍ ይላል፤ ይኸውም የደንገል ባሕር ማለት ነው። ድረስ ተከታተሏቸው። 7እነርሱ ግን ወደ እግዚአብሔር ጮኹ፤ እርሱም በእናንተና በግብፃውያን መካከል ጨለማ እንዲሆን አደረገ። ባሕሩን በላያቸው አመጣ፤ አሰጠማቸውም። በግብፃውያን ላይ ያደረግሁትንም ራሳችሁ በዐይናችሁ አያችሁ፤ በምድረ በዳም ብዙ ጊዜ ኖራችሁ።
8“ ‘በምሥራቅ ዮርዳኖስ ወደሚኖሩት ወደ አሞራውያን ምድር አመጣኋችሁ፤ እነርሱ ወጓችሁ፤ እኔ ግን አሳልፌ በእጃችሁ ሰጠኋቸው፤ ከፊታችሁ አጠፋኋቸው፤ እናንተም ምድራቸውን ወረሳችሁ። 9የሞዓብ ንጉሥ የሴፎር ልጅ ባላቅ፣ እስራኤልን ለመውጋት ተነሣ፣ እናንተንም መጥቶ ይረግማችሁ ዘንድ ወደ ቢዖር ልጅ ወደ በለዓም መልእክተኛ ላከ፤ 10እኔ ግን በለዓምን ልሰማው አልፈለግሁም፤ ስለዚህ ደግሞ ደጋግሞ መረቃችሁ፤ እኔም፤ ከባላቅ እጅ ታደግኋችሁ።
11“ ‘ከዚያም ዮርዳኖስን ተሻገራችሁ፤ ወደ ኢያሪኮ መጣችሁ፤ አሞራውያን፣ ፌርዛውያን፣ ከነዓናውያን፣ ኬጢያውያን፣ ጌርጌሳውያን፣ ኤዊያውያንና ኢያቡሳውያን እንደ ወጓችሁ ሁሉ፣ የኢያሪኮም ነዋሪዎች ወጓችሁ። 12በፊታችሁ ተርብ ላክሁ፤ ይህም እነርሱንና ሁለቱን የአሞራውያን ነገሥታት ጭምር ከፊታችሁ አሳደደ፤ ይህ ደግሞ በራሳችሁ ሰይፍና ቀስት ያደረጋችሁት አይደለም። 13ስለዚህ ያልደከማችሁበትን ምድርና ያልሠራችኋቸውን ከተሞች ሰጠኋችሁ። እነሆ፣ በከተሞቹ ትኖራላችሁ፤ ካልተከላችሁት የወይን ተክልና የወይራ ዛፍ ትበላላችሁ።’
14“አሁንም እግዚአብሔርን ፍሩ፤ በፍጹም ታማኝነትም ተገዙለት። የቀድሞ አባቶቻችሁ ከወንዙ ማዶና በግብፅ ያመለኳቸውን አማልክት ከእናንተ አርቁ፤ እግዚአብሔርን ብቻ አምልኩ። 15እግዚአብሔርን ማምለክ የማያስፈልግ መስሎ ከታያችሁ ግን፣ የቀድሞ አባቶቻችሁ ከወንዙ ማዶ ካመለኳቸው አማልክት ወይም በምድራቸው የምትኖሩባቸው አሞራውያን ከሚያመልኳቸው አማልክት ታመልኩ እንደ ሆነ የምታመልኩትን ዛሬውኑ ምረጡ፤ እኔና ቤቴ ግን እግዚአብሔርን እናመልካለን።”
16ከዚያም ሕዝቡ እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “ሌሎችን አማልእክት ለማምለክ ብለን እግዚአብሔርን መተው ከእኛ ይራቅ። 17እኛንና የቀደሙ አባቶቻችንን ከዚያ ከጦርነት ምድር ከግብፅ ያወጣን፣ በፊታችንም እነዚያን ታላላቅ ምልክቶች ያደረገ ማነው? ራሱ አምላካችን እግዚአብሔር አይደለምን? በጕዟችን ላይና ባለፍንባቸውም ሕዝቦች ሁሉ ዘንድ የጠበቀን እርሱ ነው። 18እንዲሁም እግዚአብሔር በምድሪቱ የሚኖሩትን አሞራውያንን ጨምሮ ሕዝቦችን ሁሉ ከፊታችን አሳደደ፤ ስለዚህ እኛም እግዚአብሔርን እናመልካለን፤ አምላካችን ነውና።”
19ኢያሱም ሕዝቡን እንዲህ አለ፤ “እግዚአብሔርን ማምለክ አትችሉም፤ እርሱ ቅዱስ አምላክና፤ ቀናተኛም አምላክ ነው፤ ዐመፃችሁን ወይም ኀጢአታችሁን ይቅር አይልም። 20እግዚአብሔርን ትታችሁ ባዕዳን አማልክትን የምታመልኩ ከሆነ፣ መልካም ነገር ካደረገላችሁ በኋላ ተመልሶ ክፉ ነገር ያደርግባችኋል፤ ያጠፋችኋልም።”
21ሕዝቡ ግን ኢያሱን፣ “የለም! እኛ እግዚአብሔርን እናመልካለን” አሉት።
22ከዚያም ኢያሱ፣ “እንግዲህ እግዚአብሔርን ለማምለክ መርጣችኋልና በራሳችሁ ላይ ምስክሮች ናችሁ” አላቸው።
እነርሱም፣ “አዎን ምስክሮች ነን” ሲሉ መለሱ።
23ኢያሱም፣ “እንግዲህ በመካከላችሁ ያሉትን ባዕዳን አማልክት አስወግዱ፤ ልባችሁንም ወደ እስራኤል አምላክ ወደ እግዚአብሔር መልሱ” አላቸው።
24ሕዝቡም ኢያሱን፣ “እኛ አምላካችንን እግዚአብሔርን እናመልካለን፤ እንታዘዝለታለንም” አሉት።
25በዚያን ቀን ኢያሱ ከሕዝቡ ጋር ቃል ኪዳን አደረገ፤ የሚመሩበትንም ደንብና ሥርዐት እዚያው ሴኬም ሰጣቸው። 26ኢያሱም እነዚህን ቃሎች በእግዚአብሔር የሕግ መጽሐፍ ጻፋቸው፤ ትልቅ ድንጋይም ወስዶ በባሉጥ ዛፍ ሥር፣ በተቀደሰው በእግዚአብሔር ስፍራ አጠገብ አቆመው።
27ኢያሱም ሕዝቡን ሁሉ፣ “እነሆ፤ ይህ ድንጋይ፣ እግዚአብሔር የተናገረንን ሁሉ ሰምቷል፣ በእኛም ይመሰክርብናል፤ እናንተም በአምላካችሁ ዘንድ እውነተኞች ሆናችሁ ባትገኙ ምስክር ይሆንባችኋል” አላቸው።
ኢያሱ በተሰፋዪቱ ምድር ተቀበረ
24፥29-31 ተጓ ምብ – መሳ 2፥6-9
28ከዚያም ኢያሱ ሕዝቡን ሁሉ ወደየርስቱ እንዲሄድ አሰናበተ።
29ከዚህ በኋላ የእግዚአብሔር ባሪያ የነዌ ልጅ ኢያሱ በመቶ ዐሥር ዓመቱ ሞተ። 30በኰረብታማው በኤፍሬም አገር በምትገኘው፣ ከገዓስ ተራራ በስተ ሰሜን ባለችው በራሱ ርስት በተምናሴራ ቀበሩት።
31ኢያሱ በሕይወት በነበረበት ዘመን ሁሉ፣ ከኢያሱም በኋላ በሕይወት በኖሩትና እግዚአብሔር ለእስራኤል ያደረገውን ሁሉ በሚያውቁት ሽማግሌዎች ዘመን ሁሉ እስራኤላውያን እግዚአብሔርን አመለኩ።
32እስራኤላውያን ከግብፅ ያወጡት የዮሴፍ ዐፅም፣ ያዕቆብ ከሰኬም አባት ከኤሞር በመቶ ሰቅል24፥32 ዕብራይስጡ አንድ መቶ ከሲታሃስ ይላል፤ ክብደቱና ዋጋው በትክክል የማይታወቅ የገንዘብ ዐይነት ነው። ብር በገዛው በሴኬም ምድር ተቀበረ፤ ይህችም የዮሴፍ ዘሮች ርስት ሆነች።
33እንዲሁም የአሮን ልጅ አልዓዛር ሞተ፤ እርሱም በኰረብታማው በኤፍሬም አገር በሚገኘው ለልጁ ለፊንሐስ በዕጣ በደረሰው በጊብዓ ምድር ተቀበረ።
The covenant renewed at Shechem
1Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.
2Joshua said to all the people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River Euphrates and worshipped other gods. 3But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.
5‘ “Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. 6When I brought your people out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen24:6 Or charioteers as far as the Red Sea.24:6 Or the Sea of Reeds 7But they cried to the Lord for help, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the wilderness for a long time.
8‘ “I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. 9When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. 10But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.
11‘ “Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. 12I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you – also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. 13So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.”
14‘Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshipped beyond the River Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’
16Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! 17It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we travelled. 18And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.’
19Joshua said to the people, ‘You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.’
21But the people said to Joshua, ‘No! We will serve the Lord.’
22Then Joshua said, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.’
‘Yes, we are witnesses,’ they replied.
23‘Now then,’ said Joshua, ‘throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.’
24And the people said to Joshua, ‘We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.’
25On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. 26And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord.
27‘See!’ he said to all the people. ‘This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.’
28Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to their own inheritance.
Buried in the promised land
29After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah24:30 Also known as Timnath Heres (see Judges 2:9) in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
31Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.
32And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver24:32 Hebrew hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value. from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants.
33And Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.
