1And it came to pass a long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age.23.1 stricken…: Heb. come into days 2And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age: 3And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you. 4Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward.23.4 westward: Heb. at the sunset 5And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you. 6Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; 7That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: 8But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day.23.8 But cleave…: or, For if ye will cleave, etc 9For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day.23.9 For the LORD…: or, Then the LORD will drive 10One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
11Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.23.11 yourselves: Heb. your souls 12Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: 13Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. 14And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. 15Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. 16When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.
ኢያሱ ለመሪዎች የተናገረው የመሰናበቻ ቃል
1እግዚአብሔር እስራኤላውያንን በዙሪያቸው ካሉት ጠላቶቻቸው ሁሉ ካሳረፋቸው እነሆ፣ ብዙ ዘመን ዐለፈ፤ በዚህ ጊዜ ኢያሱ በጣም አርጅቶ፣ ዕድሜውም ገፍቶ ነበር። 2ኢያሱ እስራኤልን ሁሉ አለቆቻቸውን፣ መሪዎቻቸውን፣ ፈራጆቻቸውንና ሹማምታቸውን በሙሉ ጠርቶ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “እኔ አርጅቻለሁ፤ ዕድሜዬም ገፍቷል። 3አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር ስለ እናንተ ሲል በእነዚህ ሕዝቦች ሁሉ ላይ ያደረገውን ማናቸውንም ነገር እናንተው ራሳችሁ አይታችኋል፤ ስለ እናንተ የተዋጋላችሁ ራሱ አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር ነው። 4ከዮርዳኖስ አንሥቶ በስተ ምዕራብ እስካለው እስከ ታላቁ ባሕር23፥4 የሚድትራንያን ባሕር ነው። ድረስ በሙሉ ካሸነፍኋቸው ሕዝቦች ያልወረሳችሁትን ቀሪ ምድር ርስት እንዲሆን ለየነገዶቻችሁ እንዴት አድርጌ በዕጣ እንዳከፋፈልኋችሁ አስታውሱ። 5ራሱ አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር ከፊታችሁ ያስወግዳቸዋል፤ ከፊታችሁም ያሉበትን ስፍራ ያስለቅቃቸዋል፤ አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር በሰጣችሁም ተስፋ መሠረት ምድራቸውን ትወርሳላችሁ።
6“በርቱ፤ ወደ ግራም ወደ ቀኝም ሳትሉ በሙሴ የሕግ መጽሐፍ የተጻፈውን ሁሉ ለመጠበቅና ለማድረግ እጅግ በርቱ። 7በመካከላችሁ ከቀሩት ከእነዚህ ሕዝቦች ጋር አትተባበሩ፤ የአማልክታቸውን ስም አትጥሩ፤ አትማሉባቸው፤ አታገልግሏቸው፤ አትስገዱላቸውም፤ 8ነገር ግን እስካሁን እንዳደረጋችሁት ሁሉ አምላካችሁን እግዚአብሔርን አጥብቃችሁ ያዙ።
9“እግዚአብሔር ታላላቅና ኀያላን ሕዝቦችን ከፊታችሁ አሳድዶ አስወጥቷቸዋል፤ እስከ ዛሬም ድረስ ማንም ሊቋቋማችሁ አልቻለም። 10አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር በሰጣችሁ ተስፋ መሠረት የሚዋጋላችሁ ስለሆነ፣ ከእናንተ አንዱ ሰው ሺውን ያሳድዳል። 11ስለዚህ አምላካችሁን እግዚአብሔርን ለመውደድ ተጠንቀቁ።
12“ነገር ግን ከእርሱ ተመልሳችሁ ተርፈው በመካከላችሁ ከሚገኙት ከእነዚህ ሕዝቦች ጋር ብትተባበሩ፣ በጋብቻም ብትተሳሰሩና ብትቀላቀሉ፣ 13አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር ከእንግዲህ ከፊታችሁ እንደማያወጣቸው ይህን ልታውቁ ይገባል፤ አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር ከሰጣችሁ ከዚህች መልካም ምድር እስክትጠፉ ድረስም ወጥመድና አሽክላ፣ ለጀርባችሁ ጅራፍ፣ ለዐይኖቻችሁም እሾኽ ይሆኑባችኋል።
14“እነሆ፤ አሁን የምድርን ሁሉ መንገድ ልሄድ ነው፤ አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር ከሰጣችሁ መልካም ተስፋ ሁሉ አንዲቱን እንኳ እንዳላስቀረባችሁ፣ በፍጹም ልባችሁ በፍጹም ነፍሳችሁ ታውቃላችሁ፤ አንዱም ሳይቀር ሁሉም ተፈጽሟል። 15ነገር ግን አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር የሰጣችሁ መልካሙ ተስፋ በሙሉ እንደ ተፈጸመ ሁሉ፣ እንደዚሁም አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር ከሰጣችሁ ከመልካሚቱ ምድር እስኪያጠፋችሁ ድረስ ክፉውን ነገር ያመጣባችኋል። 16አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር ያዘዛችሁን ኪዳን ብታፈርሱ፣ ሄዳችሁም ሌሎችን አማልክት ብታገለግሉና ብትሰግዱላቸው የእግዚአብሔር ቍጣ በላያችሁ ይነድዳል፤ ከሰጣችሁም ከመልካሚቱ ምድር በፍጥነት ትጠፋላችሁ።”
