Joshua 23

¹Now after a long time, when the Lord had given Israel rest from wars on every side, and Joshua was old and full of years,

²Joshua sent for all Israel, for their responsible men and their chiefs and their judges and their overseers, and said to them, I am old, and full of years:

³You have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is the Lord your God who has been fighting for you.

⁴Now I have given to you, as the heritage of your tribes, all these nations which are still in the land, together with those cut off by me, from Jordan as far as the Great Sea on the west.

⁵The Lord your God will send them away by force, driving them out before you; and you are to take their land for your heritage, as the Lord your God said to you.

⁶So be very strong to keep and do whatever is recorded in the book of the law of Moses, not turning away from it to the right or to the left;

⁷Have nothing to do with these nations who still are living among you; let not their gods be named by you or used in your oaths; do not be their servants or give them worship:

⁸But be true to the Lord your God as you have been till this day.

⁹For the Lord has sent out from before you nations great and strong: and they have all given way before you till this day.

¹⁰One man of you is able to put to flight a thousand; for it is the Lord your God who is fighting for you, as he has said to you.

¹¹So keep watch on yourselves, and see that you have love for the Lord your God.

¹²For if you go back, joining yourselves to the rest of these nations who are still among you, getting married to them and living with them and they with you:

¹³Then you may be certain that the Lord your God will not go on driving these nations out from before you; but they will become a danger and a cause of sin to you, a whip for your sides and thorns in your eyes, till you are cut off from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴Now I am about to go the way of all the earth: and you have seen and are certain, all of you, in your hearts and souls, that in all the good things which the Lord said about you, he has kept faith with you; everything has come true for you.

¹⁵And you will see that, as all the good things which the Lord your God undertook to do for you, have come to you, so the Lord will send down on you all the evil things till he has made your destruction complete, and you are cut off from the good land which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁶If the agreement of the Lord your God, which was given to you by his orders, is broken, and you become the servants of other gods and give them worship, then the wrath of the Lord will be burning against you, and you will quickly be cut off from the good land which he has given you.

Joshua 23

¹It happened after many days, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,

²that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, "I am old and well advanced in years.

³You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.

⁴Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun.

⁵The Lord your God will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as the Lord your God spoke to you.

⁶Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the scroll of the Law of Moses, that you not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left;

⁷that you not come among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them;

⁸but hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.

⁹For the Lord has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day.

¹⁰One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is the Lord your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.

¹¹Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God.

¹²Else if you do at all go back, and hold fast to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you;

¹³know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it.

¹⁵It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which the Lord your God spoke to you, so the Lord will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you,

¹⁶when you disobey the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you."