Joshua 23

1 And it cometh to pass, many days after that Jehovah hath given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua is old, entering into days,

A long time later, after the Lord had given peace to the Israelites from conflict with their enemies around them, Joshua, by now really old,

2 and Joshua calleth for all Israel, for its elders, and for its heads, and for its judges, and for its authorities, and saith unto them, 'I have become old; I have entered into days;

summoned all the Israelites—the elders, leaders, judges, and officials—and told them, “I'm old, getting on in years.

3 and ye — ye have seen all that Jehovah your God hath done to all these nations because of you, for Jehovah your God [is] He who is fighting for you;

You've seen everything the Lord your God has done to all the nations on your behalf—the Lord your God has been fighting for you.

4 see, I have caused to fall to you these nations who are left for an inheritance to your tribes, from the Jordan, (and all the nations which I cut off), and the great sea, the going in of the sun.

I have allotted the land of the remaining nations for you to own, as well as the nations already conquered, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea.

5 'As to Jehovah your God, He doth thrust them from your presence, and hath dispossessed them from before you, and ye have possessed their land, as Jehovah your God hath spoken to you,

The Lord your God will make them retreat from you. He will drive them out before you and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

6 and ye have been very strong to keep and to do the whole that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, so as not to turn aside from it right or left,

Be sure to observe everything that is written in the book of the Law of Moses. Don't stray from it, either to the left or to the right.

7 so as not to go in among these nations, these who are left with you; and of the name of their gods ye do not make mention, nor do ye swear, nor do ye serve them, nor do ye bow yourselves to them;

Don't associate with the nations that are left. Don't mention the names of their gods, and don't swear by them, worship them, or bow down to them.

8 but to Jehovah your God ye do cleave, as ye have done till this day.

Stay close to the Lord your God, as you have done up to now.

9 And Jehovah is dispossessing from before you nations great and mighty; as for you, none hath stood in your presence till this day;

The Lord has driven out strong, powerful nations before you. No one has been able to stand up to you to this day.

10 one man of you doth pursue a thousand, for Jehovah your God [is] He who is fighting for you, as He hath spoken to you;

Just one of you can chase away a thousand enemies, for the Lord your God is fighting for you, as he promised you.

11 and ye have been very watchful for yourselves to love Jehovah your God.

Take great care to love the Lord your God.

12 'But — if ye at all turn back and have cleaved to the remnant of these nations, these who are left with you, and intermarried with them, and gone in to them, and they to you,

For if you do turn from him, and adopt the ways of the nations that are left, if you intermarry with them, associating with one other,

13 know certainly that Jehovah your God is not continuing to dispossess these nations from before you, and they have been to you for a gin, and for a snare, and for a scourge, in your sides, and for thorns in your eyes, till ye perish from off this good ground which Jehovah your God hath given to you.

you can be absolutely sure that the Lord your God will definitely not drive out these nations before you. On the contrary, they will be a trap and a snare to you, a whip on you back and thorns in your eyes until you die out completely from this good land the Lord your God has given you.

14 'And lo, I am going, to-day, in the way of all the earth, and ye have known — with all your heart, and with all your soul — that there hath not fallen one thing of all the good things which Jehovah your God hath spoken concerning you; the whole have come to you; there hath not failed of it one thing.

Now I am about to die, the fate of every living thing on the earth. Deep down you know that not a single one of the Lord's good promises has failed. Everything has come true. Not one has failed.

15 'And it hath been, as there hath come upon you all the good thing which Jehovah your God hath spoken unto you, so doth Jehovah bring upon you the whole of the evil thing, till His destroying you from off this good ground which Jehovah your God hath given to you;

But in the same way that you received all the good things that the Lord you God promised, the Lord will bring on you all the bad things he has threatened until you're completely wiped out from this good land the Lord your God has given you.

16 in your transgressing the covenant of Jehovah your God which He commanded you, and ye have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, then hath the anger of Jehovah burned against you, and ye have perished hastily from off the good land which He hath given to you.'

If you break the agreement the Lord your God made with you, and you go and worship other gods, bowing down before them, then the Lord will become angry with you, and you will be quickly wiped out from the good land he has given you.”