Joshua 23

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

A long time after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, when Joshua was old and well along 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.

he summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers. “I am old and well along in years,” he said,

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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].

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.

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.

So 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.

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

Instead, you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you 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.

The LORD has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and to this day no one can stand against you.

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 of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.

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

Therefore watch yourselves carefully, that you love the LORD 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,

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,

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from this good land He has given you.”