Joshua 23:3-13

3 You have seen what the Lord has done to our enemies to help us. The Lord your God fought for you.

4 Remember 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

5 The 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 exactly as it says.

7 Don'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.

8 You 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.

10 With his help, one Israelite could defeat a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, as he promised to do.

11 So 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,

13 the 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.

Joshua 23:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 23

Joshua being old, convenes the states of Israel a little before his death, Jos 23:1,2; and in his address to them observes what God had done for them, and would do, Jos 23:3-5; and exhorts them to keep the commandments of God, and cleave to him, and not to mix with the Gentiles, and join with them in idolatrous practices, and then it would be well with them, Jos 23:6-11; but otherwise should they join with them, and depart from the Lord, who had so faithfully and punctually performed every good thing he had promised them, they might expect all evils and calamities, utter ruin and destruction, to befall them, Jos 23:12-16.