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ヨシュアの告別説教
1主がイスラエルを敵から守り、彼らに勝利を与えてから、かなりの年月がたち、ヨシュアも老人になりました。 2彼は、イスラエルの指導者である長老、裁判官、長たちを呼び、語りました。「私も、もう年をとった。 3あなたがたは、私の生涯を通じて、主があなたがたのためにどれほどのことをしてくださったか、つぶさに見てきたはずだ。敵と戦い、この地を分け与えてくださったのもあなたがたの神、主である。 4-5見てのとおり、私は、すでに征服した国々だけでなく、まだ征服していない国々をも各部族に分配した。ヨルダン川から地中海に至る全地域はあなたがたのものだ。主が必ず、現在そこに住んでいる人々を一掃し、約束どおり、あなたがたが住めるようにしてくださる。 6ただ、モーセの律法に記されたことは、一つ残らず守りなさい。少しでも違反してはならない。 7この地になお残っている異教の民とは、断じて交わってはならない。その神々の名を口にしてもいけない。まして神々によって誓ったり、礼拝したりすることなど、あってはならない。 8ただ、今まで同様、主にのみ従いなさい。 9主が、目の前の強大な国を次々と追い払ってくださった以上、もうだれ一人、立ち向かう者はいない。 10あなたがたは一人で千人を向こうに回して戦うことができる。主が約束どおり、あなたがたに味方して戦ってくださるからだ。 11心して、いつまでも主を愛し続けなさい。 12もし主を愛さず、周辺の民と結婚したりするなら、 13しっかり覚えておきなさい。主は、敵であるその住民をこの地から追い出すのをやめられるだろう。それどころか、彼らの存在はあなたがたにとって罠となり、落とし穴となる。また、わき腹を打つむち、目を刺すとげとなる。そしてついには、あなたがたのほうが主の与えてくださったこの良い地から消え失せることになるのだ。
14まもなく私は、世の人々の例にならい死を迎えるだろう。よくわかってくれていると思うが、主のお約束はすべて実現した。 15-16だが主は、約束どおり良いものを与えてくださったのと同じ確かさで、あなたがたが従わない場合には、災いを下す方である。ほかの神々を拝んだりすれば、この地から抹殺されることになる。主の怒りが燃え上がれば、たちどころに滅ぼされてしまうのだ。」
Joshua Says Goodbye to the Leaders
1A long time had passed. The Lord had given Israel peace and rest from all their enemies around them. By that time Joshua was very old. 2So he sent for all the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel. He said to them, “I’m very old. 3You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done. You have seen what he’s done to all these nations because of you. The Lord your God fought for you. 4Remember how I’ve given you all the land of the nations that remain here. I’ve given each of your tribes a share of it. It’s the land of the nations I conquered. It’s between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5The Lord your God himself will drive those nations out of your way. He will push them out to make room for you. You will take over their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.
6“Be very strong. Be careful to obey everything written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Don’t turn away from it to the right or the left. 7Don’t have anything to do with the nations that remain among you. Don’t use the names of their gods for any reason at all. Don’t give your word and make promises in their names. You must not serve them. You must not bow down to them. 8You must remain true to the Lord your God, just as you have done until now.
9“The Lord has driven out great and powerful nations to make room for you. To this day no one has been able to fight against you and win. 10One of you can chase a thousand away. That’s because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised he would. 11So be very careful to love the Lord your God.
12“But suppose you turn away from him. You mix with the people who are left alive in the nations that remain among you. Later, you and they get married to each other. And you do other kinds of things with them. 13Then you can be sure of what the Lord your God will do. He won’t drive out those nations to make room for you anymore. Instead, they will become traps and snares for you. They will be like whips on your backs. They will be like thorns in your eyes. All that will continue until you are destroyed. It will continue until you are removed from this good land. It’s the land the Lord your God has given you.
14“Now I’m about to die, just as everyone else on earth does. The Lord your God has kept all the good promises he gave you. Every one of them has come true. Not one has failed to come true. And you know that with all your heart and soul. 15Every good thing has come to pass that the Lord your God has promised you. So you know that he can also bring against you all the evil things he has warned you about. He’ll do it until he has destroyed you. He’ll do it until he has removed you from this good land. It’s the land he has given you. 16Suppose you break the covenant the Lord your God made with you. He commanded you to obey it. But suppose you go and serve other gods. And you bow down to them. Then the Lord will be very angry with you. You will quickly be destroyed. You will be removed from the good land he has given you.”
