Yosua 23:3-13

23:3 You saw everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your behalf, for the Lord your God fights for you. ¹  23:4 See, I have parceled out to your tribes these remaining nations, ²  from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea ³  in the west, including all the nations I defeated. ⁴  23:5 The Lord your God will drive them out from before you and remove them, ⁵  so you can occupy ⁶  their land as the Lord your God promised ⁷  you. 23:6 Be very strong! Carefully obey ⁸  all that is written in the law scroll of Moses so you won’t swerve from it to the right or the left, 23:7 or associate with these nations that remain near ⁹  you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods! ¹⁰  You must not worship ¹¹  or bow down to them! 23:8 But you must be loyal to ¹²  the Lord your God, as you have been ¹³  to this very day.

23:9 “The Lord drove out from before you great and mighty nations; no one has been able to resist you ¹⁴  to this very day. 23:10 One of you makes a thousand run away, ¹⁵  for the Lord your God fights for you ¹⁶  as he promised you he would. ¹⁷  23:11 Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God! ¹⁸  23:12 But if you ever turn away and make alliances with ¹⁹  these nations that remain near you, ²⁰  and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, ²¹  23:13 know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; ²²  they will be a whip that tears ²³  your sides and thorns that blind ²⁴  your eyes until you disappear ²⁵  from this good land the Lord your God gave you.

[23:3]  ¹ tn Heb “for the Lord your God, he [is] the one who fights for you.”

[23:4]  ² tn Heb “I have assigned by lots to you these remaining nations as an inheritance for your tribes.”

[23:4]  ³ tn Heb “the Great Sea,” the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.

[23:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the Jordan and all the nations which I cut off and the Great Sea [at] the place where the sun sets.” The relationship of the second half of the verse, which mentions nations already conquered, to the first half, which speaks of “remaining nations,” is difficult to understand.

[23:5]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads, “from before you.” This has not been included in the translation because it is redundant in English.

[23:5]  ⁶ tn Or “take possession of.”

[23:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “said to.”

[23:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “Be strong so you can be careful to do.”

[23:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “with.”

[23:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and in the name of their gods you must not invoke and you must not make solemn declarations.” The words “and you must not make solemn declarations” are omitted in the LXX and may represent a later scribal addition to elucidate the immediately preceding command. The Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) without an object occurs only here and in Josh 6:26.

[23:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “serve.”

[23:8]  ¹² tn Heb “hug.”

[23:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “done.”

[23:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “not a man has stood before you.”

[23:10]  ¹⁵ tn Or “chases a thousand.”

[23:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for the Lord your God, he [is] the one who fights for you.”

[23:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “as he said to you.”

[23:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Watch carefully yourselves so as to love the Lord your God.”

[23:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and hug.”

[23:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the remnant of the these nations, these nations that are with you.”

[23:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “and go into them, and they into you.”

[23:13]  ²² tn Heb “be a trap and a snare to you.”

[23:13]  ²³ tn Heb “in.”

[23:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “thorns in your eyes.”

[23:13]  ²⁵ tn Or “perish.”