But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve thee Lord,
Joshua 24:13 And I gave you a land, in which you had not laboured, and cities to dwell in which you built not, vineyards and oliveyards, which you planted not.
Joshua 24:14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him with a perfect and most sincere heart: and put away the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15 But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve thee Lord,
Joshua 24:16 And the people answered, and said, God forbid we should leave the Lord, and serve strange gods.
Joshua 24:17 The Lord our God he brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: and did very great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way by which we journeyed, and among all the people through whom we passed.
The verse centers on "seem", "evil", "serve", "lord", "choice", "choose", "pleaseth", and "rather". 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 "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve..." into verse 16's "And the people answered and said God...", 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.