CHAPTER 23
A long
time
after
the LORD
had given Israel
rest
from all
the enemies
around them,
when Joshua
was old
and advanced
in years,
he
summoned
all
Israel,
including its elders,
leaders,
judges,
and officers.
“I
am old
and advanced
in years,”
he said,
“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.
See,
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.
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.
Be 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.
So you are not
to associate
with these
nations
remaining
among you.
Do not
call on
the names
of their gods
or swear by them,
and you must not
serve them
or
bow down
to them.
The LORD
has driven out
great
and powerful
nations
before you,
and to
this
day
no
one
can stand
against you.
One
of you
can put
a thousand to flight,
because
the LORD
your God
fights for you,
just as
He promised.
For
if
you turn away
and cling
to the rest
of these
nations
that remain
among you,
and if you intermarry
and associate
with them,
know 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
for your sides
and thorns
in your eyes,
until
you perish
from
this
good
land
that
the LORD
your God
has given
you.
Now 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.
But 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.
If you transgress
the covenant
of the LORD
your God,
which
He commanded you,
and go
and serve
other
gods
and bow down to them,
the LORD’s
anger
will burn against you,
and you will quickly
perish
from
this good
land
He has given
you."