1 And Joshua gathereth all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and calleth for the elders of Israel, and for its heads, and for its judges, and for its authorities, and they station themselves before God.
2 And Joshua saith unto all the people, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Beyond the River have your fathers dwelt of old — Terah father of Abraham and father of Nachor — and they serve other gods ;
3 and I take your father Abraham from beyond the River, and cause him to go through all the land of Canaan, and multiply his seed, and give to him Isaac.
4 And I give to Isaac, Jacob and Esau ; and I give to Esau mount Seir, to possess it ; and Jacob and his sons have gone down to Egypt.
5 And I send Moses and Aaron, and plague Egypt, as I have done in its midst, and afterwards I have brought you out.
6 And I bring out your fathers from Egypt, and ye go into the sea, and the Egyptians pursue after your fathers, with chariot and with horsemen, to the Red Sea ;
7 and they cry unto Jehovah, and He setteth thick darkness between you and the Egyptians, and bringeth on them the sea, and covereth them, and your eyes see that which I have done in Egypt ; and ye dwell in a wilderness many days.
8 'And I bring you in unto the land of the Amorite who is dwelling beyond the Jordan, and they fight with you, and I give them into your hand, and ye possess their land, and I destroy them out of your presence.
9 'And Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, riseth and fighteth against Israel, and sendeth and calleth for Balaam son of Beor, to revile you,
10 and I have not been willing to hearken to Balaam, and he doth greatly bless you, and I deliver you out of his hand.
11 'And ye pass over the Jordan, and come in unto Jericho, and fight against you do the possessors of Jericho — the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite — and I give them into your hand.
12 And I send before you the hornet, and it casteth them out from your presence — two kings of the Amorite — not by thy sword, nor by thy bow.
13 'And I give to you a land for which thou hast not laboured, and cities which ye have not built, and ye dwell in them ; of vineyards and olive-yards which ye have not planted ye are eating.
Note · Josué 24.1–13
La mémoire du don corrige l’illusion d’une origine autosuffisante
Le récit rappelle que les ancêtres servaient d’autres dieux et que les habitants disposent de villes et de plantations qu’ils n’ont pas créées. L’identité ne repose donc pas sur une pureté initiale ni sur la seule force du peuple. Cette gratitude ne doit cependant pas rendre invisibles ceux dont le récit a raconté l’éviction ou la mort.
14 '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 ;
15 and if wrong in your eyes to serve Jehovah — choose for you to-day whom ye do serve ; — whether the gods whom your fathers served, which [are] beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorite in whose land ye are dwelling ; and I and my house — we serve Jehovah.'
16 And the people answer and say, 'Far be it from us to forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods ;
17 for Jehovah our God [is] He who is bringing us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants, and who hath done before our eyes these great signs, and doth keep us in all the way in which we have gone, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed ;
18 and Jehovah casteth out the whole of the peoples, even the Amorite inhabiting the land, from our presence ; we also do serve Jehovah, for He [is] our God.'
Note · Josué 24.14–18
Choisir de servir est une réponse à une histoire reçue
Josué engage sa maison et demande une décision à l’assemblée. Le peuple répond en rappelant la délivrance plutôt qu’en revendiquant sa propre excellence. La parole du chef sur sa maison ne donne pas aujourd’hui un droit de contrainte sur la conscience des proches ; elle énonce ici son engagement dans le cadre collectif du récit.
19 And Joshua saith unto the people, 'Ye are not able to serve Jehovah, for a God most holy He [is] ; a zealous God He [is] ; He doth not bear with your transgression and with your sins.
20 When ye forsake Jehovah, and have served gods of a stranger, then He hath turned back and done evil to you, and consumed you, after that He hath done good to you.'
21 And the people saith unto Joshua, 'No, but Jehovah we do serve.'
22 And Joshua saith unto the people, 'Witnesses ye are against yourselves, that ye have chosen for you Jehovah to serve Him (and they say, 'Witnesses !')
23 and, now, turn aside the gods of the stranger which [are] in your midst, and incline your heart unto Jehovah, God of Israel.'
24 And the people say unto Joshua, 'Jehovah our God we serve, and to His voice we hearken.'
Note · Josué 24.19–24
La gravité de l’alliance résiste à un oui sans conséquence
La réponse sévère de Josué sur l’incapacité et le non-pardon confronte le peuple à la sainteté de Dieu et au danger de l’infidélité. Elle ne doit pas être isolée comme si toute la Bible niait la possibilité du pardon. L’exigence concrète d’ôter les dieux étrangers donne un contenu au choix proclamé.
25 And Joshua maketh a covenant with the people on that day, and layeth on it a statute and an ordinance, in Shechem.
26 And Joshua writeth these words in the Book of the Law of God, and taketh a great stone, and raiseth it up there under the oak which [is] in the sanctuary of Jehovah.
27 And Joshua saith unto all the people, 'Lo, this stone is against us for a witness, for it hath heard all the sayings of Jehovah which He hath spoken with us, and it hath been against you for a witness, lest ye lie against your God.'
28 And Joshua sendeth the people away, each to his inheritance.
Note · Josué 24.25–28
La pierre témoin renvoie les paroles à ceux qui les ont prononcées
L’écriture de l’engagement et le signe de pierre prolongent le rassemblement. L’image de la pierre qui entend relève d’une personnification de témoin, non d’une affirmation sur la conscience des objets. Le monument doit garder la mémoire de la parole lorsque chacun sera retourné dans son héritage.
29 And it cometh to pass, after these things, that Joshua son of Nun, servant of Jehovah, dieth, a son of a hundred and ten years,
30 and they bury him in the border of his inheritance, in Timnath-Serah, which [is] in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the hill of Gaash.
31 And Israel serveth Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who prolonged days after Joshua, and who knew all the work of Jehovah which He did to Israel.
32 And the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in the portion of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor father of Shechem, with a hundred kesitah ; and they are to the sons of Joseph for an inheritance.
33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they bury him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the hill-country of Ephraim.
Note · Josué 24.29–33
Les sépultures achèvent un livre sans achever l’histoire
Josué meurt reconnu comme serviteur de Dieu ; les os de Joseph, emportés d’Égypte selon Exode 13.19, sont déposés à Sichem. Éléazar meurt à son tour. La fidélité de la génération des anciens est reconnue, mais elle ne peut être transmise comme un bien automatique : le livre des Juges posera de nouveau la question de la mémoire et de l’écoute.