“But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul — Joshua's final charge to the eastern tribes combines legal obligation with covenantal intimacy. The imperative 'love the LORD' ('ahab) and 'cling to him' (dābaq) use language of profound loyalty. The formula 'with all your heart and with all your soul' (bĕkol-lĕbābka ubĕkol-nap̄šĕka) anticipates the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:5). Theologically, Joshua frames the covenant as involving not mere legal compliance but total devotion.
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