Joshua23

New Living Translation

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¹The years passed, and the Lord had given the people of Israel rest from all their enemies. Joshua, who was now very old,

²called together all the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. He said to them, “I am now a very old man.

³You have seen everything the Lord your God has done for you during my lifetime. The Lord your God has fought for you against your enemies.

⁴I have allotted to you as your homeland all the land of the nations yet unconquered, as well as the land of those we have already conquered—from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

⁵This land will be yours, for the Lord your God will himself drive out all the people living there now. You will take possession of their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.

⁶“So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left.

⁷Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them.

⁸Rather, cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until now.

⁹“For the Lord has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you.

¹⁰Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy, for the Lord your God fights for you, just as he has promised.

¹¹So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

¹²“But if you turn away from him and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry with them,

¹³then know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive them out of your land. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap to you, a whip for your backs and thorny brambles in your eyes, and you will vanish from this good land the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴“Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!

¹⁵But as surely as the Lord your God has given you the good things he promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him. He will completely destroy you from this good land he has given you.

¹⁶If you break the covenant of the Lord your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger will burn against you, and you will quickly vanish from the good land he has given you.”

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Joshua 23.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Joshua's exhortation before his death. (1–10). Joshua warns the people of idolatry. (11–16).

vv1-10

Joshua was old and dying, let them observe what he said now. He put them in mind of the great things God had done for them in his days. He exhorted them to be very courageous. Keep with care, do with diligence, and regard with sincerity what is written. Also, very cautiously to endeavour that the heathen idolatry may be forgotten, so that it may never be revived. It is sad that among Christians the names of the heathen gods are so commonly used, and made so familiar as they are. Joshua exhorts them to be very constant. There might be many things amiss among them, but they had not forsaken the Lord their God; the way to make people better, is to make the best of them.

vv11-16

Would we cleave to the Lord, we must always stand upon our guard, for many a soul is lost through carelessness. Love the Lord your God, and you will not leave him. Has God been thus true to you? Be not you false to him. He is faithful that has promised, Heb 10:23. The experience of every Christian witnesses the same truth. Conflicts may have been severe and long, trials great and many; but at the last he will acknowledge that goodness and mercy followed him all the days of his life. Joshua states the fatal consequences of going back; know for a certainty it will be your ruin. The first step would be, friendship with idolaters; the next would be, marrying with them; the end of that would be, serving their gods. Thus the way of sin is down-hill, and those who have fellowship with sinners, cannot avoid having fellowship with sin. He describes the destruction he warns them of. The goodness of the heavenly Canaan, and the free and sure grant God has made of it, will add to the misery of those who shall for ever be shut out from it. Nothing will make them see how wretched they are, so much, as to see how happy they might have been. Let us watch and pray against temptation. Let us trust in God's faithfulness, love, and power; let us plead his promises, and cleave to his commandments, then we shall be happy in life, in death, and for ever.

Key Words

longH7227Hebrew

רַב: abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)

timeH3117Hebrew

יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)

afterwardH310Hebrew

אַחַר: properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses)

restH5117Hebrew

נוּחַ: to rest, i.e. settle down; used in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, intransitive, transitive and causative (to dwell, stay, let fall, place, let alone, withdraw, give comfort, etc.)

IsraelH3478Hebrew

יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity

surroundingH5439Hebrew

סָבִיב: (as noun) a circle, neighbour, or environs; but chiefly (as adverb, with or without preposition) around

enemiesH341Hebrew

אֹיֵב: hating; an adversary

JoshuaH3091Hebrew

יְהוֹשׁוּעַ: Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the Jewish leader

oldH2204Hebrew

זָקֵן: to be old

advancedH935Hebrew

בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)