Bible Strands
Joshua 24:15
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Joshua addresses the assembled Israelites at Shechem, near the end of his life, immediately after urging them to serve Yahweh in sincerity (v. 14). The moment is a public declaration before the whole congregation.
The words — בַּחֲר֨וּ (ba.cha.Ru), "choose," is the driving imperative: a command to decide, not a gentle suggestion. רַע (ra'), "is displeasing," carries the weight of active repulsion, not mere inconvenience.
The thread — The same forced-allegiance pattern recurs in 1 Kings 18:21, where Elijah demands the people stop "limping between two opinions," and in John 6:67, where Jesus puts the question directly to the Twelve. Ruth 1:15 echoes the "your gods" language as part of a departure rather than a choice.
Why it lands — It refuses to let neutrality stand: "we will serve the LORD" is not a default but a declaration that costs something. The verse asks the reader to name what they are actually serving, because silence is already an answer.
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
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 18:21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer a word.
- John 6:67 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”
- Ruth 1:15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”
- Deuteronomy 29:18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
- Ezekiel 20:39 And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.
- Exodus 23:32 You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- Acts 11:23 When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts.
- Exodus 23:24 You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
- Judges 6:10 And I said to you: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you did not obey Me.”
- Genesis 18:19 For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”