Joshua 24 · Verse 14

Joshua 24:14

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.
Joshua 24:14, King James Version

Joshua 24:14 in other translations

BSBNow, 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.
WEB“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve the LORD.
ASVNow therefore fear Jehovah, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt; and serve ye Jehovah.
YLT‘And now, fear ye Jehovah, and serve Him, in perfection and in truth, and turn aside the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve ye Jehovah;
DARBYAnd now fear Jehovah and serve him in perfectness and in truth; and put away thegods which your fathers served on the other side of the river, and in Egypt; and serve Jehovah.
BBESo now, go in fear of the Lord, and be his servants with true hearts: put away the gods worshipped by your fathers across the River and in Egypt, and be servants of the Lord.
WebsterNow 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.

What does Joshua 24:14 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 24:14-28
14-28. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth--After having enumerated so many grounds for national gratitude, Joshua calls on them to declare, in a public and solemn manner, whether they will be faithful and obedient to the God of Israel. He avowed this to be his own unalterable resolution, and urged them, if they were sincere in making a similar avowal, "to put away the strange gods that were among them"--a requirement which seems to imply that some were suspected of a strong hankering for, or concealed practice of, the idolatry, whether in the form of Zabaism, the fire-worship of their Chaldean ancestors, or the grosser superstitions of the Canaanites.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 14 Fear the Lord - Reverence him as the sole object of your religious worship. Serve him - Perform his will by obeying his commands. In sincerity - Having your whole heart engaged in his worship. And in truth - According to the directions he has given you in his infallible word. Put away the gods, etc. - From this exhortation of Joshua we learn of what sort the gods were, to the worship of whom these Israelites were still attached. 1. Those which their fathers worshipped on the other side of the flood: i.e., the gods of the Chaldeans, fire, light, the sun. 2. Those of the Egyptians, Apis, Anubis, the ape, serpents, vegetables, etc. 3. Those of the Canaanites, Moabites, etc., Baal-peor or Priapus, Astarte or Venus, etc., etc. All these he refers to in this and the following verse. See at the conclusion of Jos 24:33 (note). How astonishing is this, that, after all God had done for them, and all the miracles they had seen, there should still be found among them both idols and idolaters! That it was so we have the fullest evidence, both here and in Jos 24:23; Amo 5:26; and in Act 7:41. But what excuse can be made for such stupid, not to say brutish, blindness? Probably they thought they could the better represent the Divine nature by using symbols and images, and perhaps they professed to worship God through the medium of these. At least this is what has been alleged in behalf of a gross class of Christians who are notorious for image worship. But on such conduct God will never look with any allowance, where he has given his word and testimony.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Joshua 24:1-14

We must never think our work for God done, till our life is done. If he lengthen out our days beyond what we expected, like those of Joshua, it is because he has some further service for us to do. He who aims at the same mind which was in Christ Jesus, will glory in bearing the last testimony to his Saviour's goodness, and in telling to all around, the obligations with which the unmerited goodness of God has bound…

Read the full comment on Joshua 24:1-14 →

Joshua 24:14 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְעַתָּ֞הve.'a.Tahand thereforeH6258
יְר֧אוּye.R.'ufearH3372
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
יְהוָ֛הYah.wehYahwehH3068
וְעִבְד֥וּve.'iv.Duand serveH5647
אֹת֖וֹ'o.To<obj.> himH853
בְּתָמִ֣יםbe.ta.Mimin integrityH8549
וּבֶֽאֱמֶ֑תu.ve.'e.Metand in faithfulnessH571
וְהָסִ֣ירוּve.ha.Si.ruand removeH5493
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
אֱלֹהִ֗ים'E.lo.Him[the] godsH430
אֲשֶׁר֩'a.SherwhichH834
עָבְד֨וּ'a.ve.Duthey servedH5647
אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֜ם'a.vo.tei.Khemancestors yourH1
בְּעֵ֤בֶרbe.'E.veron [the] other side ofH5676
הַנָּהָר֙ha.na.Harthe riverH5104
וּבְמִצְרַ֔יִםu.ve.mitz.Ra.yimand in EgyptH4714
וְעִבְד֖וּve.'iv.Duand serveH5647
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
יְהוָֽה\׃Yah.wehYahwehH3068

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Joshua 24:14

  • 1 Samuel 12:24

    Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.

  • Deuteronomy 10:12

    And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

  • Genesis 35:2

    Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

  • Joshua 24:23

    Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.

  • 2 Corinthians 1:12

    For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

  • Psalms 119:1

    א ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

  • Ezekiel 20:18

    But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:

  • Joshua 24:2

    And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

  • Ezekiel 23:3

    And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.

  • Deuteronomy 18:13

    Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.

  • John 4:23-24

    But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

  • Exodus 20:3-4

    Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
fear.
De 10:12; 1Sa 12:24; Job 1:1; 28:28; Ps 111:10; 130:4; Ho 3:5
Ac 9:31
serve.
23; Ge 17:1; 20:5,6; De 18:13; 2Ki 20:3; Ps 119:1,80; Lu 8:15
Joh 4:23,24; 2Co 1:12; Eph 6:24; Php 1:10
put.From this exhortation of Joshua, we not only learn that the Israelites still retained some relics of idolatry, but to what gods they were attached. 1. Those whom their fathers worshipped on the other side of the food, or the river Euphrates, i.e., the gods of the Chaldeans, fire, light, the sun, etc. 2. Those of the Egyptians, Apis, Anubis, serpents, vegetables, etc. 3. Those of the Amorites, Moabites, Canaanites, etc., Baal-peor, Astarte, etc. How astonishing is it, that after all that God had done for them, and all the miracles they had seen, there should still be found among them both idols and idolaters!
2,23; Ge 35:2; Ex 20:3,4; Le 17:7; Ezr 9:11; Eze 20:18; Am 5:25,26
in Egypt.
Eze 20:7,8; 23:3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Joshua 24:13

    And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

  • Joshua 24:14

    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.

  • Joshua 24:15

    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.

Read all of Joshua 24

Joshua 24:14 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Ahora pues, temed á Jehová, y servidle con integridad y en verdad; y quitad de en medio los dioses á los cuales sirvieron vuestros padres de esotra parte del río, y en Egipto; y servid á Jehová.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et maintenant, craignez l’ Éternel, et servez-le en intégrité et en vérité; et ôtez les dieux que vos pères ont servis de l’autre côté du fleuve et en Égypte, et servez l’ Éternel.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und nun fürchet Jehova und dienet ihm in Vollkommenheit und in Wahrheit; und tut die Götter hinweg, welchen eure Väter jenseit des Stromes und in Ägypten gedient haben, und dienet Jehova.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Nunc ergo timete Dominum, et servite ei perfecto corde atque verissimo: et auferte deos quibus servierunt patres vestri in Mesopotamia et in Ægypto, ac servite Domino.