Joshua 23

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¹The years passed, and the Lord had given the people of Israel rest from all their enemies. Joshua, who was now very old, ✦ ²called together all the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. He said to them, “I am now a very old man. ✦ ³You have seen everything the Lord your God has done for you during my lifetime. The Lord your God has fought for you against your enemies. ✦ ⁴I have allotted to you as your homeland all the land of the nations yet unconquered, as well as the land of those we have already conquered—from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ✦ ⁵This land will be yours, for the Lord your God will himself drive out all the people living there now. You will take possession of their land, just as the Lord your God promised you. ✦ ⁶“So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left. ✦ ⁷Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them. ✦ ⁸Rather, cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until now. ✦ ⁹“For the Lord has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you. ✦ ¹⁰Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy, for the Lord your God fights for you, just as he has promised. ✦ ¹¹So be very careful to love the Lord your God. ✦ ¹²“But if you turn away from him and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry with them, ✦ ¹³then know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive them out of your land. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap to you, a whip for your backs and thorny brambles in your eyes, and you will vanish from this good land the Lord your God has given you. ✦ ¹⁴“Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! ✦ ¹⁵But as surely as the Lord your God has given you the good things he promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him. He will completely destroy you from this good land he has given you. ✦ ¹⁶If you break the covenant of the Lord your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger will burn against you, and you will quickly vanish from the good land he has given you.” ✦

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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.

Where this chapter connects

Exod 23 ·7 Deut 4 ·5 Josh 23 ·4 Deut 7 ·4 Deut 28 ·4 Josh 13 ·4 Lev 26 ·4 Luke 21 ·4

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 23 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical
On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Joshua videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Joshua 23YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Joshua 23David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JoshuaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Joshua 23Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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