Joshua 23
The full text of Joshua 23 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man,
2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: "I am very old.
3 You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you.
4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
5 The LORD your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.
6 Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.
7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them.
8 But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done until now.
9 "The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you.
10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised.
11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.
12 But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them,
13 then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.
14 "Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.
15 But just as all the good things the LORD your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the LORD your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you.
16 If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you."
Translation notes (8)
- Joshua 23:3a 'It was the LORD your God who fought for you' is the controlling theme of Joshua's farewell, repeated at verse 10 (compare 10:14, 42). The conquest was God's gift, not Israel's achievement, and so future security depends on faithfulness, not military strength.
- Joshua 23:6a Joshua passes on to all Israel the exact command the LORD first gave him (1:7): 'be strong,' obey the whole law, and do not turn 'to the right or to the left.' The book's main message becomes the people's responsibility.
- Joshua 23:7a The fourfold prohibition—do not mix with them, do not invoke their gods' names, do not swear by them, and do not serve or bow to them—guards the first commandment (Exodus 20:3-5). The danger is not the nations' strength but their gods.
- Joshua 23:10a This verse, "One routs a thousand," echoes the covenant promise found in Deuteronomy 32:30 and Leviticus 26:8. It means that Israel's victory will be far greater than their own strength because the LORD himself is fighting for them (compare verse 3).
- Joshua 23:13a The images of snares, traps, whips, and thorns in this verse come from Numbers 33:55. This is a serious warning: the same God who gave the land to Israel can also remove a disloyal people from it, which prepares for the choice presented to Israel in chapter 24.
- Joshua 23:14a The phrase "to go the way of all the earth" is a respectful way of saying someone is approaching death (compare 1 Kings 2:2). Joshua's final words here repeat the book's main conclusion from Joshua 21:45—that every good promise was kept—and his dying testimony now becomes the foundation for the warning that follows.
- Joshua 23:15a The same trustworthiness of God that guaranteed every blessing also guarantees the curses of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28). The God who keeps his promises also keeps his warnings; loyalty is not optional.
- Joshua 23:16a Joshua's farewell speech concludes by focusing on the specific sin that will bring about Israel's downfall: breaking the covenant through idolatry. This warning serves as a crucial link to chapter 24, where Joshua urges the people to choose whom they will serve.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is a new translation of the Bible prepared by Trinity Bible AI — rendered from the original Hebrew and faithful to the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. Finished in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation you can read today, and it is available only through Trinity Bible. All 66 books, including Joshua, are free to read on this site.
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