Joshua 23
16 verses
Joshua's farewell address charges the people to faithfulness to the covenant, warning that failure to drive out remaining Canaanites will lead to intermarriage, idolatry, and the loss of the land: 'if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations, know that the LORD your God will not drive them out' (23:12-13). Joshua's warnings foreshadow Judges' themes of decline and the consequences of unfaithful settlement; the promise is conditional on obedience, and the land's retention depends on covenantal loyalty. The address emphasizes that Joshua's death marks the end of the conquest era and that Israel's future depends on the people's faithfulness, not on continued military leadership; each generation must choose covenant obedience. The theological vision: the land is given but must be kept through loyalty, and the danger is internal (idolatry through mixture with Canaanites) as much as external (military defeat).
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
1
And it came to pass a long time after that the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age.
0 0Open verse page →
2
And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:
0 0Open verse page →
3
And ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the Lord your God is he that hath fought for you.
0 0Open verse page →
4
Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward.
0 0Open verse page →
5
And the Lord your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the Lord your God hath promised unto you.
0 0Open verse page →
God is faithful in every circumstance.. My grandmother used to quote this verse every morning. God is faithful in every ...
6
Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;
1 0Open verse page →
7
That ye come not among these nations, these 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:
0 0Open verse page →
8
But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day.
0 0Open verse page →
9
For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day.
0 0Open verse page →
The early church would have heard this very differently than we do today. I notice the repetition here is deliberate — t...
10
One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
1 0Open verse page →
11
Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God.
0 0Open verse page →
12
Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:
0 0Open verse page →
13
Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations 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 hath given you.
0 0Open verse page →
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 thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.
0 0Open verse page →
15
Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.
0 0Open verse page →
16
When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.
0 0Open verse page →
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
No notes on this chapter yet. Be the first to write one!