Joshua’s Farewell to the Leaders

23 After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel resth from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man,i 2 summoned all Israel—their elders,j leaders, judges and officialsk—and said to them: “I am very old.l 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.m 4 Remember how I have allottedn as an inheritanceo for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Seap in the west. 5 The Lord your God himself will push them outq for your sake. He will drive them outr before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.s

6 “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Lawt of Moses, without turning asideu to the right or to the left.v 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swearw by them. You must not serve them or bow downx to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lordy your God, as you have until now.

9 “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations;z to this day no one has been able to withstand you.a 10 One of you routs a thousand,b because the Lord your God fights for you,c just as he promised. 11 So be very carefuld to love the Lorde 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 themf and associate with them,g 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive outh these nations before you. Instead, they will become snaresi and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes,j until you perish from this good land,k which the Lord your God has given you.

14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.l 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 promisem has been fulfilled; not one has failed.n 15 But just as all the good thingso the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil thingsp he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed youq from this good land he has given you.r 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.s”