12 Else, if ye go back, and cleave unto the rest of these nations: that is, of them that remain with you, and shall [a]make marriages with them, and [b]go unto them, and they to you,

13 Know ye for certain, that the Lord your God will cast out no more of these nations from before you: (A)but they shall be a snare and destruction unto you, and a whip on your sides, and thorns in your [c]eyes, until ye perish out of this good land, which the Lord your God hath given you.

14 And behold, this day do I [d]enter into the way of all the world, and ye know in all your [e]hearts and in all your souls, that (B)nothing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God promised you, but all are come to pass unto you: nothing hath failed thereof.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 23:12 Or, be of their affinity.
  2. Joshua 23:12 Or, have conversation with them.
  3. Joshua 23:13 Meaning, they shall be a continual grief unto you, and so the cause of your destruction.
  4. Joshua 23:14 I die according to the course of nature.
  5. Joshua 23:14 Most certainly.

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(A) and associate with them,(B) 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out(C) these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares(D) and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes,(E) until you perish from this good land,(F) which the Lord your God has given you.

14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.(G) 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(H) has been fulfilled; not one has failed.(I)

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