Joshua 23

1 Yahweh enabled the Israelis to live peacefully [for many years] with the people-groups that were around them.

And it came to pass after many days, when Jehovah had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, and Joshua was old and well stricken in years,

2 Joshua was now very old. [One day] he summoned the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the leaders of the clans, the judges, and [other] officials. He said to them, “I am now very old.

that 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 stricken in years,

3 You people have seen what Yahweh our God has done to help you defeat the people-groups [that lived in this land]. Yahweh our God has fought for you.

and ye have seen all that Jehovah your God has done to all these nations because of you, for Jehovah your God, he it is who has fought for you.

4 But do not forget that he has given to you all this land, from the Jordan [River in the east] to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, all this land that I have allotted to you.

Behold, 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.

5 Yahweh our God will compel the people who are still living there to leave. He will push them out as you advance. Then the land will be yours, as Yahweh has promised you.

And Jehovah your God, he will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. And ye shall possess their land, as Jehovah your God spoke to you.

6 “Be sure that you obey all the laws that are in the book that Moses wrote. Do not disobey any part of it [IDM].

Therefore be ye very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye not turn aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;

7 Do not associate with the people who live among us [who are not Israelis and who worship other gods]. Do not mention the names of their gods, and do not use the names of their gods when you promise to do something. Do not serve their gods or worship them.

that ye do 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 yourselves down to them,

8 You must continue to do what Yahweh our God wants us to do, as you have been doing.

but cling to Jehovah your God as ye have done to this day.

9 “Yahweh has forced [many] very powerful people-groups to leave as you advanced. No people-group has been able to defeat you.

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

10 Each of you will be able to cause 1,000 of them to run away, because Yahweh your God will fight for you, just like he promised to do.

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

11 So be sure that you continue to love Yahweh our God.

Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that ye love Jehovah your God.

12 “If you turn away from doing what Yahweh desires and you associate with the people who are not Israelis, and if you marry them,

Else if ye do at all go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you,

13 then you can be sure that Yahweh our God will not help you to expel those people-groups from your land. They will be [like] traps [DOU, MET] [that will catch you]. They will be [like] whips [that strike] your backs, and like thorns [that will scratch] your eyes. As a result, none of you will be left in this good land that Yahweh our God is giving to you.

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

14 “It is almost time for me to die, like everyone does [EUP]. You know in your hearts [DOU] that Yahweh has done for you [LIT] everything that he promised to do.

And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Jehovah your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass to you; not one thing has failed of it.

15 He has given to you all the good things that he promised. In the same way, the other things that he promised, [things that are not good], will also happen. He said that if you do what is evil, he will get rid of you and send you away from this good land that he has given to you.

And it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you of which Jehovah your God spoke to you, so will Jehovah bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which Jehovah your God has given you.

16 That will happen if you do not obey the commands that Yahweh our God told you to obey. If you serve other gods and worship them, Yahweh will become very angry with you. Very quickly [he will expel you from] this good land that he has given to you, [and] none of you will be left here.”

When ye transgress the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them, then the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you.