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Joshua 23
The Voice
Joshua 23
The Voice
In this final section of this book (chapters 23–24), Joshua’s speeches recap the story of their exodus from Egypt, remind the Israelites (and us) that God has been faithful in keeping all His promises, and call the people of Israel to accountability and faithfulness. It is this last charge that they will fail to keep—and that failure will cause the people of Israel so much trouble in the generations to come.
23 After Israel had taken possession of their inheritances and the Eternal had given them peace for many years and when Joshua was very old, 2 he summoned all of Israel, their judges and officers and leaders.
Joshua: I am an old man. 3 You have seen everything the Eternal One, your True God, did to these nations for you; the Eternal One, your True God, fought for you. 4 I have allotted as your tribes’ inheritances the territories of those people who still remain, as well as all the nations I captured from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean. 5 The Eternal your God will push them out of their lands and out of your sight and you will live in their lands, just as He promised you. 6 So be firm and unswerving, observing all that is written in the law of Moses without deviation. 7 That will ensure that you don’t start to blend in with the other nations around you or call upon their gods or worship them or serve them. 8 Just hold tightly to the Eternal One, your True God, as you always have, 9 for He has driven out great and powerful nations before you like leaves in the wind, and you know that no one has ever been able to stand against you. 10 One of you can pursue a thousand because it is He who fights for you, just as He promised.
11 So always be careful to love the Eternal One, your God. 12 If you turn away from Him and toward those left of the foreign nations among you—if your women marry them and their women marry you— 13 you can be sure that the Eternal will turn from you. He won’t remove the nations around you, but instead He will let them be a snare for you to be caught in, a wound in your sides, and thorns in your eyes until you perish from this good land that He has given you.
14 The time has come for me to die and return to the earth. But I want to leave you with these thoughts: Think back and you will know without a doubt that not one single good thing that the Eternal One, your God, promised you has been left undone. Not a single one.
15 But in the same way the Eternal One, your True God, has fulfilled all these blessings, you can be sure that if you turn away from Him, He will fulfill the curses until the Eternal has obliterated you from this good land He gave you. 16 If you break the commandments that He has laid upon you and turn from Him to serve and worship other gods, then His anger will flare white-hot against you, and you will quickly be wiped from the face of this good land He has given you.
Joshua 23
New International Version
Joshua 23
New International Version
Joshua’s Farewell to the Leaders
23 After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest(A) from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man,(B) 2 summoned all Israel—their elders,(C) leaders, judges and officials(D)—and said to them: “I am very old.(E) 3 You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you.(F) 4 Remember how I have allotted(G) as an inheritance(H) for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea(I) in the west. 5 The Lord your God himself will push them out(J) for your sake. He will drive them out(K) before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.(L)
6 “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law(M) of Moses, without turning aside(N) to the right or to the left.(O) 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear(P) by them. You must not serve them or bow down(Q) to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lord(R) your God, as you have until now.
9 “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations;(S) to this day no one has been able to withstand you.(T) 10 One of you routs a thousand,(U) because the Lord your God fights for you,(V) just as he promised. 11 So be very careful(W) to love the Lord(X) your God.
12 “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them(Y) and associate with them,(Z) 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out(AA) these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares(AB) and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes,(AC) until you perish from this good land,(AD) which the Lord your God has given you.
14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.(AE) You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise(AF) has been fulfilled; not one has failed.(AG) 15 But just as all the good things(AH) the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things(AI) he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you(AJ) from this good land he has given you.(AK) 16 If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.(AL)”
The Voice (VOICE)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.