Josué 23

¹ And a long season after that the Lord had giuen rest vnto Israel from all their enemies round about, and Ioshua was olde, and stricken in age,

² Then Ioshua called all Israel, and their Elders, and their heads, and their iudges, and their officers, and said vnto them, I am old, and stricken in age.

³ And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nationsYour eyes bearing witness.because of you; for the LORD your God [is] he that hath fought for you.

⁴ Beholde, I haue deuided vnto you by lot these nations that remaine, to be an inheritance according to your tribes, from Iorden, with all the nations that I haue destroyed, euen vnto the great Sea Westward.

⁵ And the LORD your God, he shall expelWhich yet remain and are not overcome, as in (Jos_13:2).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.

⁶ Be ye therefore of a valiant courage, to obserue and doe all that is written in the booke of the Lawe of Moses, that ye turne not therefrom to the right hand nor to the left,

⁷ That ye come not among these nations, these thatAnd not yet subdued.remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods,Let not the judges admit an oath which any shall swear by their idols.nor cause to swear [by them], neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:

⁸ But sticke fast vnto the Lord your God, as ye haue done vnto this day.

⁹ For ye Lorde hath cast out before you great nations and mightie, and no man hath stand before your face hitherto.

¹⁰ One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.

¹¹ Take good heede therefore vnto your selues, that ye loue the Lord your God.

¹² Els, if ye goe backe, and cleaue vnto the rest of these nations: that is, of them that remaine with you, and shall make marriages with them, and goe vnto them, and they to you,

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 yourMeaning, they will be a continual grief to you, and so the cause of your destruction.eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

¹⁴ And, behold, this day I [am]I die according to the course of nature.going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all yourMost certainly.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.

¹⁵ Therefore as all good things are come vpon you, which the Lorde your God promised you, so shall the Lord bring vpon you euery euill thing, vntill he haue destroyed you out of this good land, which ye Lord your God hath giue you.

¹⁶ When ye haveHe shows that no evil can come to man, except he offend God by disobedience.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.