Joshua 23:4-14

4 Behold, I have divided unto you as inheritance unto your tribes all these Gentiles, those that remain as well as those that are destroyed, from the Jordan unto the great sea towards the going down of the sun.
5 And the LORD your God, shall expel them from before you and drive them from out of your presence; and ye shall possess their lands, as the LORD your God has promised unto you.
6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses without turning aside to the right hand or to the left
7 that ye not enter in among these Gentiles that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them,
8 but cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day.
9 For the LORD has driven out from before you great and strong Gentiles; and until now no one has been able to stand before your face.
10 One man of you has chased a thousand; for the LORD your God, he himself has fought for you, as he has promised you.
11 Therefore take heed for your souls that ye love the LORD your God.
12 Because if ye do in any wise go back and cleave unto the remnant of these Gentiles that remain among you and shall make marriages with them and go in unto them and they to you,
13 know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no longer drive out any of these Gentiles from before you, but they shall be snares and traps unto you and scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.
14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing has failed thereof.

Joshua 23:4-14 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.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010