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Joshua 23

Joshua grounds Israel’s obligation to love and obey YHWH in God’s fulfilled promises and his warnings of judgment.

An aged Joshua gathers Israel and its leaders after YHWH has given them rest from surrounding enemies. He recalls the battles God has fought for them and the land allotted to their tribes, including territory still to be possessed. As his death approaches, Joshua urges them to keep the law of Moses and love YHWH. He warns that serving other gods will bring judgment and the loss of the land God has given them.

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1After many days, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,
2Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, “I am old and well advanced in years.
3You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you.
4Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun.
5The LORD your God will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as the LORD your God spoke to you.
6“Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn away from it to the right hand or to the left;
7that you not come 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 down yourselves to them;
8but hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.
9“For the LORD has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day.
10One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is the LORD your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.
11Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God.
12“But if you do at all go back, and hold fast to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you;
13know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.
14“Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it.
15It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which the LORD your God spoke to you, so the LORD will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you,
16when you disobey the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them. Then the LORD’s anger will be kindled against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you.”
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Key verses
Joshua 23:3Joshua identifies YHWH as the one who fought for Israel, grounding his appeal in what the people have witnessed.
Joshua 23:10Israel’s strength against greater numbers rests on YHWH fighting for them, just as he promised.
Joshua 23:14Facing death, Joshua affirms that God has kept every good promise, then warns that his threatened judgments will also come.
Where this chapter reaches

Deuteronomy shares the commands to love YHWH and keep his law, along with warnings that covenant disobedience will cost Israel the land. Exodus shares the warning against entanglement with the land’s inhabitants and their gods, while Leviticus also connects disobedience with loss of the land.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does Joshua’s account of God’s faithfulness shape the weight of his closing warnings?

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What stands out to you about Joshua’s charge to love YHWH as his own death approaches?

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Questions people ask about Joshua 23

Why does Joshua 23 say God fulfilled every promise when land still remained?

Joshua affirms that every good thing God had spoken concerning Israel had come to pass. The same speech acknowledges remaining nations and promises their removal. The chapter holds together the fulfillment Israel has witnessed and possession still ahead, with continued help tied to faithfulness to YHWH.

Why does Joshua 23 warn against intermarriage?

The warning concerns marriages with the remaining nations in the land. Joshua places it within his charge to avoid their gods and hold fast to YHWH. Such ties threaten Israel’s covenant loyalty; the stated consequences include snares, suffering, and loss of the land God has given them.

Does Joshua die in Joshua 23?

Joshua does not die within this chapter. He describes himself as old and says he is going the way of all the earth, acknowledging that death is near. His speech prepares Israel’s leaders for life after his death by directing them to YHWH and the law of Moses.

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Joshua · 24 chapters
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What the Bible says about temptation →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).