Joshua 24:16 (GNV)

Passage

Then the people answered and saide, God forbid, that we shoulde forsake the Lord, to serue other gods.

Nearby Context

Joshua 24:14 Nowe therefore feare the Lord, and serue him in vprightnesse and in trueth, and put away the gods, which your fathers serued beyonde the flood and in Egypt, and serue the Lord.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seeme euill vnto you to serue the Lord, choose you this day whome yee will serue, whether the gods which your fathers serued (that were beyond the flood) or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwel: but I and mine house will serue the Lord.

Joshua 24:16 Then the people answered and saide, God forbid, that we shoulde forsake the Lord, to serue other gods.

Joshua 24:17 For the Lord our God, he brought vs and our fathers out of the lande of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and he did those great miracles in our sight, and preserued vs in all the way that we went, and among all the people through whome we came.

Joshua 24:18 And the Lord did cast out before vs all the people, euen the Amorites which dwelt in the lande: therefore will we also serue the Lord, for he is our God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "answered", "saide", "forbid", "shoulde", "forsake", "lord", and "serue". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "people" and "answered", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And if it seeme euill vnto you..." into verse 17's "For the Lord our God he brought...", so "people" and "answered" 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 "answered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.