Joshua 24:24 (DRB)

Passage

And the people said to Joshua: We will serve the Lord our God, and we will be obedient to his commandments.

Nearby Context

Joshua 24:22 And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses, that you yourselves have chosen you the Lord to serve him. And they answered: We are witnesses.

Joshua 24:23 Now therefore, said he, put away strange gods from among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord the God of Israel.

Joshua 24:24 And the people said to Joshua: We will serve the Lord our God, and we will be obedient to his commandments.

Joshua 24:25 Joshua therefore on that day made a covenant, and set before the people commandments and judgments in Sichem.

Joshua 24:26 And he wrote all these things in the volume of the law of the Lord: and he took a great stone, and set it under the oak that was in the sanctuary of the Lord.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "said", "joshua", "serve", "lord", "obedient", and "commandments". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "people" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "Now therefore said he put away strange..." into verse 25's "Joshua therefore on that day made a...", so "people" and "said" 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 "people" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.