Old Testament · History

Joshua 23

Joshua's Farewell

Old and full of days, Joshua warns the leaders: cling to God or be consumed. The same choice Moses offered, now from a new voice.

Berean Standard Bible BSB KJV

1A long time after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, when Joshua was old and well along in years,

2he summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers. “I am old and well along in years,” he said,

3“and you have seen everything that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, because it was the LORD your God who fought for you.

4See, I have allotted as an inheritance to your tribes these remaining nations, including all the nations I have already cut off, from the Jordan westward to the Great Sea.

5The LORD your God will push them out of your way and drive them out before you, so that you can take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.

6Be very strong, then, so that you can keep and obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, not turning aside from it to the right or to the left.

7So you are not to associate with these nations that remain among you. You must not call on the names of their gods or swear by them, and you must not serve them or bow down to them.

8Instead, you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.

9The LORD has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and to this day no one can stand against you.

10One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.

11Therefore watch yourselves carefully, that you love the LORD your God.

12For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them,

13know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.

14Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the LORD your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.

15But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.

16If you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from this good land He has given you.”

Understand This

Joshua 23, explained

What Joshua 23 is saying

In his old age, Joshua assembles Israel's leaders for a farewell address warning them to remain faithful to the covenant. He recounts God's faithfulness in driving out nations and promises that God will continue—but only if Israel obeys Torah, avoids intermarriage with Canaanites, and refuses to serve their gods. He warns that just as every good promise has been fulfilled, so every threatened judgment will come if they turn away.

The background behind it

Joshua's farewell follows the pattern of ancient Near Eastern vassal treaty renewal, echoing Moses' farewell in Deuteronomy. The emphatic warning against intermarriage and religious syncretism anticipates the exact failures described in Judges 2–3.

Themes running underneath

The symmetry of blessing and curse is central: the same God who fulfilled every good promise will fulfill every threatened consequence. Joshua's warning that remaining Canaanites will become 'snares and traps, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes' (v. 13) uses visceral imagery to convey the danger of compromise.

Why it still matters

Faithfulness is not a one-time decision but a sustained commitment. Joshua's warning that past success does not guarantee future blessing challenges complacency rooted in spiritual nostalgia.

This is one chapter. BibleKey does all 1,189.

Tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and follow every cross-reference without losing your place.

Get BibleKey

All 24 chapters of Joshua · Every book of the Bible · Browse by topic

Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.