Joshua 8:35
There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.
Joshua left out nothing of all Moses had commanded but read every word of the law aloud, including its statutes and judgments. He read it before the whole congregation of Israel, with the women and the little children and the strangers and resident foreigners living among them, so that the entire community was taught and heard the law together. This was the covenant ceremony on Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim at Israel's entrance into Canaan, a solemn recognition of God's law and renewal of the covenant before Israel took possession of its inheritance.
The public reading made the covenant's requirements and terms known to everyone, so the people could accept them and assent to the blessings for obedience and the curses for neglect. The law was also written publicly on memorial stones as well as preserved in the ark. Joshua read it again only weeks after Moses had delivered Deuteronomy to the people. Israel's duty to God thus came before the military campaign and settlement of the land, and while the people remained faithful God protected them even among unconquered enemies.
Ebal and Gerizim stood as silent witnesses of the solemn vows made there. The later gathering at Shechem before Joshua's death renewed those same entrance vows and recalled the vows of Ebal and Gerizim, with Joshua recounting God's works so Israel would recognize His love and mercy and serve Him sincerely and truthfully. Shechem was fitting for that renewal because it carried minds back to God's covenant with Abraham and Jacob and to the entrance vows, while the land Israel possessed without laboring for it and the cities they did not build and the vineyards and oliveyards they did not plant stood on every side as evidence of what God had done for them.