Bible Strands
Joshua 24:14
Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua addresses the assembled tribes of Israel at Shechem in his farewell charge, immediately after reminding them of the land and cities God gave them without their labor (Josh 24:13).
The words — בְּתָמִים (b'tāmîm, "in integrity/wholeness") paired with בֶּאֱמֶת (b'ĕmĕt, "in faithfulness/truth") forms a fixed biblical collocation for undivided devotion; the two terms together exclude partial or performative service.
The thread — The same fear-and-serve formula appears in 1 Samuel 12:24 and Deuteronomy 10:12; the command to purge foreign gods echoes Jacob's charge in Genesis 35:2.
Why it lands — The verse does not permit a dual allegiance; it demands the reader name what they actually serve and remove it, leaving only one object of devotion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 12:24 Above all, fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.
- Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Genesis 35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
- Joshua 24:23 “Now, therefore,” he said, “get rid of the foreign gods among you and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
- 2 Corinthians 1:12 For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.
- Psalms 119:1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the LORD.
- Ezekiel 20:18 In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.
- John 4:23 But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.
- Deuteronomy 18:13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.
- Joshua 24:2 And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.