‘ And the people answered and said, “God forbid that we should forsake YHWH to serve other gods. For YHWH our God, he it is who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the people through the midst of whom we passed.” '
Note the implied reference to Exodus 20:2, ‘I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage' demonstrating that those words were rooted in their minds. They protested immediately their horror at the thought that they should forsake YHWH and serve anyone but Him. They had absorbed the words of Joshua and recognised the truth of what he had said about YHWH's continued deliverance, and they acknowledged the wonders He had wrought, and the way He had preserved them on their journeys, both through ample provision and protection from their enemies. How then could they serve anyone else?