1. The Lord let Israel live in peace with its neighbours for a long time, and Joshua lived to a ripe old age.
2. One day he called a meeting of the leaders of the tribes of Israel, including the old men, the judges, and the officials. Then he told them:I am now very old.
3. You have seen how the Lord your God fought for you and helped you defeat the nations who lived in this land.
4-5. There are still some nations left, but the Lord has promised you their land. So when you attack them, he will make them run away. I have already divided their land among your tribes, as I did with the land of the nations I defeated between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.
6. Be sure that you carefully obey everything written in The Book of the Law of Moses and do exactly what it says.
7. Don't have anything to do with the nations that live around you. Don't worship their gods or pray to their idols or make promises in the names of their gods.