Good News Bible

Joshua 23:5-13 Good News Bible (GNB)

5. The Lord your God will make them retreat from you, and he will drive them away as you advance. You shall have their land, as the Lord your God has promised you.

6. So be careful to obey and do everything that is written in the book of the Law of Moses. Do not neglect any part of it,

7. and then you will not associate with these peoples left among you or speak the names of their gods or use those names in taking vows or worship those gods or bow down to them.

8. Instead, be faithful to the Lord, as you have been till now.

9. The Lord has driven great and powerful nations out as you advanced and no one has ever been able to stand against you.

10. Any one of you can make a thousand men run away, because the Lord your God is fighting for you, just as he promised.

11. Be careful, then, to love the Lord your God.

12. If you are disloyal and join with the nations that are still left among you and intermarry with them,

13. you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive these nations out as you advance. Rather, they will be as dangerous for you as a trap or a pit and as painful as a whip on your back or thorns in your eyes. And this will last until none of you are left in this good land which the Lord your God has given you.