Discovery BoxJoshua 24:15 
Context24:15 If you have no desire 1 to worship 2 the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, 3 whether it be the gods whom your ancestors 4 worshiped 5 beyond the Euphrates, 6 or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family 7 will worship 8 the Lord!”
Joshua 24:19-20
Context24:19 Joshua warned 9 the people, “You will not keep worshiping 10 the Lord, for 11 he is a holy God. 12 He is a jealous God who will not forgive 13 your rebellion or your sins. 24:20 If 14 you abandon the Lord and worship 15 foreign gods, he will turn against you; 16 he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, 17 though he once treated you well.” 18
1 tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”
2 tn Or “to serve.”
3 tn Or “will serve.”
4 tn Heb “your fathers.”
5 tn Or “served.”
6 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.
7 tn Heb “house.”
8 tn Or “will serve.”
9 tn Heb “said to.”
10 tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”
11 sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.
12 tn In the Hebrew text both the divine name (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) and the adjective (קְדֹשִׁים, qÿdoshim, “holy”) are plural. Normally the divine name, when referring to the one true God, takes singular modifiers, but this is a rare exception where the adjective agrees grammatically with the honorific plural noun. See GKC §124.i and IBHS 122.
13 tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”
sn This assertion obviously needs qualification, for the OT elsewhere affirms that God does forgive. Joshua is referring to the persistent national rebellion against the Mosaic covenant that eventually cause God to decree unconditionally the nation’s exile.
14 tn Or “when.”
15 tn Or “and serve.”
16 tn The words “against you” are added for clarification.
17 tn Heb “bring you to an end.”
18 tn Heb “after he did good for you.”
