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long time afterward, when the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua had become old and well advanced in years. 2 So Joshua summoned all of Israel—their elders, leaders, judges, and officials, and he said to them, “I am old and advanced in years. 3 You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for the Lord your God has been fighting for you. 4 See, I have allotted to you the territory of the nations that remain as an inheritance for your tribes, including all the nations that I have already conquered, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your way. Then you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God has promised you.
6 “So be very strong, and continue to keep everything that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Do not turn aside from it to the right hand or the left, 7 and do not associate with these nations that remain here among you. You must not call on the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 Instead, you must hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.
9 “For the Lord has driven out great and powerful nations before you. As for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. 10 One of your men puts to flight a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as He promised you. 11 So be very mindful of yourselves, therefore, that you love the Lord your God.
12 “For if you ever turn away and cling to the survivors of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry with them and associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer continue to drive out these nations from before you. Instead they will be a snare and a trap for you, and a scourge on your sides, 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, as you can see. You know in your hearts and in your souls that not one of the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled, not one of them has failed. 15 So just as all the good things have come upon you that the Lord your God promised you, so the Lord will bring on you all the evil things until He has wiped you off this good land the Lord your God has given you. 16 If you break 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 perish quickly from off the good land which He has given to you.”