Joshua's Charge to Israel's Leaders

Joshua 23

1 Now it came to pass, a long time after the LORD a had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua b was old, advanced in age. 2 And Joshua c called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them: "I am old, advanced in age. 3 "You have seen all that the d LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the e LORD your God is He who has fought for you. 4 "See, f I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward. 5 "And the LORD your God g will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, h as the LORD your God promised you. 6 i "Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, j lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, 7 "and lest you k go 1 among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not l make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to m swear by them; you shall not n serve them nor bow down to them, 8 "but you shall o hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day. 9 p "For the LORD has 2 driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. 10 q "One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, r as He promised you. 11 s "Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God. 12 "Or else, if indeed you do t go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations - these that remain among you - and u make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, 13 "know for certain that v the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. w But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

14 "Behold, this day x I 3 am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that y not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. 15 z "Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the LORD your God promised you, so the LORD will bring upon you a all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the LORD your God has given you. 16 4 "When you have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the b anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you."

  1. Cross References
    Joshua 21:44
    The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
    Joshua 22:4
    And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.
  2. Cross References
    Joshua 13:1
    Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the LORD said to him: "You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.
    Joshua 24:29
    Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
  3. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:28
    Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
  4. Cross References
    Psalms 44:3
    For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them.
  5. Cross References
    Exodus 14:14
    "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."
    Deuteronomy 1:30
    The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes.
    Joshua 10:14
    And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
    Joshua 10:42
    All these kings and their land Joshua took at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.
  6. Cross References
    Joshua 13:2
    This is the land that yet remains: all the territory of the Philistines and all that of the Geshurites.
    Joshua 13:6
    All the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as the Brook Misrephoth, and all the Sidonians - them I will drive out from before the children of Israel; only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you.
    Joshua 18:10
    Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.
  7. Cross References
    Exodus 23:30
    Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.
    Exodus 33:2
    And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
  8. Cross References
    Numbers 33:53
    You shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
  9. Cross References
    Joshua 1:7
    Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 5:32
    Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
  11. Cross References
    Exodus 23:33
    "They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."
    Deuteronomy 7:2
    And when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
    Deuteronomy 7:3
    Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
    Proverbs 4:14
    Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil.
    Ephesians 5:11
    And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
  12. Cross References
    Exodus 23:13
    And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.
    Psalms 16:4
    Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips.
    Jeremiah 5:7
    How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by those that are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, Then they committed adultery And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
    Hosea 2:17
    For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more.
  13. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 6:13
    You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
    Deuteronomy 10:20
    You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 20:5
    You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.
  15. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 10:20
    You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.
  16. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:24
    And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.
    Deuteronomy 11:23
    Then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.
    Joshua 1:5
    No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.
  17. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:8
    Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
    Deuteronomy 28:7
    The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
    Isaiah 30:17
    One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, At the threat of five you shall flee, Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain And as a banner on a hill.
  18. Cross References
    Exodus 14:14
    "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."
  19. Cross References
    Joshua 22:5
    "But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul."
  20. Cross References
    2 Peter 2:20
    For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
    2 Peter 2:21
    For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
  21. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:3
    Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
    Deuteronomy 7:4
    For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
    Ezra 9:2
    "For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass."
    Nehemiah 13:25
    So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves.
  22. Cross References
    Judges 2:3
    "Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.'"
  23. Cross References
    Exodus 23:33
    "They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."
    Exodus 34:12
    Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst.
    Deuteronomy 7:16
    Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
  24. Cross References
    1 Kings 2:2
    I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.
  25. Cross References
    Joshua 21:45
    Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.
    Luke 21:33
    Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
  26. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:63
    And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.
  27. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:14 - 39
    But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments.
    Deuteronomy 28:15 - 68
    But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
  28. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:24 - 28
    For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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