Translation Note: I used the JPS 1917 Translation as the basis of this translation. As a means of queering the text, I chose to gender God as She; my expectation is that each week I'll choose a different pronoun or neopronoun to use to gender God. This is my way of living into the realities that God is beyond, between and infinite when compared to the ways that humans can understand God. When necessary for the use of idioms, feel free to alter either the gendered aspect of the idiom or the gendering of God. To that end, I've translated the sacred name of God as the Becoming One.
Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18 JPS 1917, Adapted
And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2And Joshua said unto all the people: "Thus says the Becoming One, the God of Israel: Your parents dwelt beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and they served other gods.
14"Now therefore fear the Becoming One, and serve Her in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your parents served beyond the River, and in Egypt; and serve the Becoming One. 15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Becoming One, choose this day who you will serve; whether the gods which your parents served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Becoming One."
16And the people answered and said: "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Becoming One, to serve other gods; 17for the Becoming One our God, She brought us and our parents up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed; 18and the Becoming One drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites that dwelt in the land; therefore we also will serve the Becoming One; for She is our God."
Queeries for the text
How are fear and evil constructed in our society? Do they compliment each other here?
How can we honor the land where we dwell?
What does Shechem mean and where else does it show up in the Hebrew Bible and Acts?
What is the significance of the River?
How have Christians turned away from God?
Why was it important to give God credit for genocide and why do we still do it?
Who are the Amorites?
How is God with us wherever we go, and keeping us safe today?
How has this passage impacted the ways in which the united states was founded?
What are your queeries?
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