Joshua 23
23
Joshua's Farewell Speech
1The Lord let Israel live in peace with its neighbors for a long time, and Joshua lived to a ripe old age. 2One day he called a meeting of the leaders of the tribes of Israel, including the old men, the judges, and the officials. Then he told them:
I am now very old. 3You have seen how the Lord your God fought for you and helped you defeat the nations who lived in this land. 4-5There are still some nations left, but the Lord has promised you their land. So when you attack them, he will make them run away. I have already divided their land among your tribes, as I did with the land of the nations I defeated between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
6Be sure that you carefully obey everything written in The Book of the Law#23.6 Law: See the note at 8.30-32. of Moses and do exactly what it says.
7Don't have anything to do with the nations that live around you. Don't worship their gods or pray to their idols or make promises in the names of their gods. 8Be as faithful to the Lord as you have always been.
9When you attacked powerful nations, the Lord made them run away, and no one has ever been able to stand up to you. 10#Dt 32.30; Dt 3.21,22. Any one of you can defeat a thousand enemy soldiers, because the Lord God fights for you, just as he promised. 11Be sure to always love the Lord your God. 12-13Don't ever turn your backs on him by marrying people from the nations that are left in the land. Don't even make friends with them. I tell you that if you are friendly with those nations, the Lord won't chase them away when you attack. Instead, they'll be like a trap for your feet, a whip on your back, and thorns in your eyes. And finally, none of you will be left in this good land that the Lord has given you.
14I will soon die, as everyone must. But deep in your hearts you know that the Lord has kept every promise he ever made to you. Not one of them has been broken. 15-16Yes, when the Lord makes a promise, he does what he has promised. But when he makes a threat, he will also do what he has threatened. The Lord is our God. He gave us this wonderful land and made an agreement with us that we would worship only him. But if you worship other gods, it will make the Lord furious. He will start getting rid of you, and soon not one of you will be left in this good land that he has given you.
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Joshua 23: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Joshua 23
23
The Last Words of Joshua
1The Lord gave Israel peace from their enemies around them. Many years passed, and Joshua grew very old. 2He called a meeting of all the elders, heads of families, judges, and officers of Israel. He said, “I am now very old. 3You have seen what the Lord has done to our enemies to help us. The Lord your God fought for you. 4Remember that your people have been given their land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the land I promised to give you. 5The Lord your God will force out the people living there. The Lord will push them out ahead of you. And you will own the land, as he has promised you.
6“Be strong. You must be careful to obey everything commanded in the Book of the Teachings of Moses. Do not stray from it either from the left or the right. 7Don’t become friends with the people living among us who are not Israelites. Don’t say the names of their gods or make anyone swear by them. Don’t serve or worship them. 8You must continue to follow the Lord your God, as you have done in the past.
9“The Lord has forced many great and powerful nations to leave ahead of you. No nation has been able to defeat you. 10With his help, one Israelite could defeat a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, as he promised to do. 11So you must be careful to love the Lord your God.
12“If you turn away from the way of the Lord and become friends with these people who are not part of Israel and marry them, 13the Lord your God will not help you defeat your enemies. They will be like traps for you, like whips on your back and thorns in your eyes, and none of you will be left in this good land the Lord your God has given you.
14“It’s almost time for me to die. You know and fully believe that the Lord has done great things for you. You know that he has not failed to keep any of his promises. 15Every good promise that the Lord your God made has come true, and in the same way, his other promises will come true. He promised that evil will come to you and that he will destroy you from this good land that he gave you. 16This will happen if you don’t keep your agreement with the Lord your God. If you go and serve other gods and worship them, the Lord will become very angry with you. Then none of you will be left in this good land he has given you.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.