Joshua 23

Joshuaʼs Charge to Leadersⓘ

Joshua's farewell begins¹A long time after the Lord had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, when Joshua was old and well along in years, ²he summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers. “I am old and well along in years,” he said, ³“and you have seen everything that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, because it was the Lord your God who fought for you.

⁴See, I have allotted as an inheritance to your tribes these remaining nations, including all the nations I have already cut off, from the Jordan westward to the Great Sea.^{a 5}The Lord your God will push them out of your way and drive them out before you, so that you can take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

⁶Be very strong, then, so that you can keep and obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, not turning aside from it to the right or to the left. ⁷So you are not to associate with these nations that remain among you. You must not call on the names of their gods or swear by them, and you must not serve them or bow down to them. ⁸Instead, you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.

Warning against mixing with the nations⁹The Lord has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and to this day no one can stand against you. ¹⁰One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as He promised. ¹¹Therefore watch yourselves carefully, that you love the Lord your God. ¹²For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them, ¹³know for sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the Lord your God has given you.

Promises kept and warnings ahead¹⁴Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the Lord your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed. ¹⁵But just as every good thing the Lord your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the Lord will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you. ¹⁶If you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from this good land He has given you.”