Joshua 23

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

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 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.

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

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 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.

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 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 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 “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 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 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.

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

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

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 strong, powerful nations before you. No one has been able to stand up to 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.

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

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

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

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.

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 “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 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 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 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 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 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.”