Joshua 24:16 (YLT)

Passage

And the people answer and say, `Far be it from us to forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;

Nearby Context

Joshua 24:14 `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;

Joshua 24:15 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 <FI>are<Fi> beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorite in whose land ye are dwelling; and I and my house--we serve Jehovah.'

Joshua 24:16 And the people answer and say, `Far be it from us to forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;

Joshua 24:17 for Jehovah our God <FI>is<Fi> 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;

Joshua 24:18 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 <FI>is<Fi> our God.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "answer", "forsake", "jehovah", "serve", "other", and "gods". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "people" and "answer", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "and if wrong in your eyes to..." into verse 17's "for Jehovah our God FI is Fi...", so "people" and "answer" 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 "answer" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.