Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.
Parallel translations
- WEB Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
- KJV Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the Law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may achieve success wherever you go.
- NLT Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God urges Joshua to courage rooted in careful obedience to the law of Moses, turning neither right nor left. True success comes through faithfulness to God's word.
Overview
Here courage is tied directly to obedience: prosperity is promised to the one who keeps the whole law without deviation. This reflects the covenant principle of Deuteronomy 28, where blessing follows obedience. Joshua's success depends not on military genius but on submission to God's revealed will, a foreshadowing of the perfect obedience of Christ, who alone fully kept the law on His people's behalf.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Chr 22:13Then you will succeed, if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.
- Deut 5:32So be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or to the left.
- Josh 1:8This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.
- Prov 4:27Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.
- Josh 11:15As the LORD had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. That is what Joshua did, leaving nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
- Deut 12:32See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.
- Deut 29:9So keep and follow the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all you do.
- Deut 28:14Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them.
- Prov 8:20I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,
- Deut 31:7Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.
- 1 Kgs 2:3And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn,
- Num 27:23and laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had instructed through Moses.
- Josh 1:1Now after the death of His servant Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying,
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 1:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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