Joshua 23King James Version
Joshua, very old now, gathers the elders of Israel for his first farewell. He reminds them of all the Lord has done. Cleave unto the Lord your God. Do not marry among the nations that remain. If you turn away, the Lord will drive you from this good land as surely as He drove the others out.
Joshua gathers Israel's leaders for his first farewell address. He recounts what God has done, warns against intermarriage with remaining Canaanites and service of their gods, and promises that the same God who drove out nations will turn against Israel if it violates the covenant. His speech is direct and unsparing: the consequences of covenant-breaking are the same God who gave the victories.
The greatest threat to Israel's inheritance is not Canaanite armies but Canaanite worship. Joshua's last words treat idolatry as an existential danger, not a cultural preference.
verse 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." Joshua repeats the climax of chapter 21 with the weight of his own life behind it.
An assembly site in Canaan, perhaps Shiloh, the 1370s BC. Joshua stands before the generation that grew up watching the conquest. They did not cross the Red Sea or stand at Sinai. They inherited a half-finished job and a land still dotted with Canaanite neighbors. Joshua looks at them and tells them what he knows: God has kept every promise, and the same God will destroy them if they break the covenant. Then he sends them home.
Joshua, now very old, addressing the elders, judges, officers, and heads of Israel; the nation assembled before him; the unnamed Canaanite nations still present in the land; God, who is addressed in the third person as both protector and potential adversary.
The farewell address pattern in the Bible (Moses in Deuteronomy, Joshua here, Samuel in 1 Samuel 12, Paul in Acts 20) always combines recollection with warning. Joshua's warning is specific: the nations left in the land are snares and traps and scourges if Israel intermarries with them and serves their gods. The book of Judges is the documentation that this warning was not heeded.
There is the weight of finality in this speech. Joshua knows he is dying and says so plainly. He does not soften the warnings or offer comfort beyond faithfulness. The love behind the speech is the love that refuses to lie about consequences.
1And 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.
2And 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:
3And 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.
4Behold, 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.
5And 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.
6Be 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;
7That 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:
8But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day.
9For 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.
10One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
11Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
12Else 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:
13Know 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.
14And, 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.
15Therefore 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.
16When 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.