Joshua 23:5-11

23:5 The Lord your God will drive them out from before you and remove them, ¹  so you can occupy ²  their land as the Lord your God promised ³  you. 23:6 Be very strong! Carefully obey ⁴  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 ⁵  you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods! ⁶  You must not worship ⁷  or bow down to them! 23:8 But you must be loyal to ⁸  the Lord your God, as you have been ⁹  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 ¹⁰  to this very day. 23:10 One of you makes a thousand run away, ¹¹  for the Lord your God fights for you ¹²  as he promised you he would. ¹³  23:11 Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God! ¹⁴ 

¹ tn The Hebrew text reads, “from before you.” This has not been included in the translation because it is redundant in English.

² tn Or “take possession of.”

³ tn Heb “said to.”

⁴ tn Heb “Be strong so you can be careful to do.”

⁷ tn Heb “with.”

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Or “serve.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “hug.”

¹¹ tn Heb “done.”

¹³ tn Heb “not a man has stood before you.”

¹⁶ tn Or “chases a thousand.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “for the Lord your God, he [is] the one who fights for you.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “as he said to you.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “Watch carefully yourselves so as to love the Lord your God.”