And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods whom your fathers that were on the other side of the river served, or the gods of the Amorite, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.
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 vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
Joshua 24:14 And now fear Jehovah and serve him in perfectness and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river, and in Egypt; and serve Jehovah.
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods whom your fathers that were on the other side of the river served, or the gods of the Amorite, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.
Joshua 24:16 And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;
Joshua 24:17 for Jehovah our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed!
The verse centers on "seem", "evil", "serve", "jehovah", "choose", "whether", and "gods". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "seem" and "evil", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 14's "And now fear Jehovah and serve him..." into verse 16's "And the people answered and said Far...", so "seem" and "evil" belong inside that flow. In Joshua context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "seem" and "evil" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.