Discovery BoxJoshua 23:6-13 
Context23:6 Be very strong! Carefully obey 1 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 2 you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods! 3 You must not worship 4 or bow down to them! 23:8 But you must be loyal to 5 the Lord your God, as you have been 6 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 7 to this very day. 23:10 One of you makes a thousand run away, 8 for the Lord your God fights for you 9 as he promised you he would. 10 23:11 Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God! 11 23:12 But if you ever turn away and make alliances with 12 these nations that remain near you, 13 and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, 14 23:13 know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; 15 they will be a whip that tears 16 your sides and thorns that blind 17 your eyes until you disappear 18 from this good land the Lord your God gave you.
1 tn Heb “Be strong so you can be careful to do.”
2 tn Heb “with.”
3 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.
4 tn Or “serve.”
5 tn Heb “hug.”
6 tn Heb “done.”
7 tn Heb “not a man has stood before you.”
8 tn Or “chases a thousand.”
9 tn Heb “for the
10 tn Heb “as he said to you.”
11 tn Heb “Watch carefully yourselves so as to love the
12 tn Heb “and hug.”
13 tn Heb “the remnant of the these nations, these nations that are with you.”
14 tn Heb “and go into them, and they into you.”
15 tn Heb “be a trap and a snare to you.”
16 tn Heb “in.”
17 tn Heb “thorns in your eyes.”
18 tn Or “perish.”
