Joshua 23

New International Version

Joshua’s Farewell to the Leaders

23 After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest^(A) from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man,^(B) ²summoned all Israel—their elders,^(C) leaders, judges and officials^(D)—and said to them: “I am very old.^(E) ³You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you.^(F) ⁴Remember how I have allotted^(G) as an inheritance^(H) for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea^(I) in the west. ⁵The Lord your God himself will push them out^(J) for your sake. He will drive them out^(K) before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.^(L)

⁶“Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law^(M) of Moses, without turning aside^(N) to the right or to the left.^(O) ⁷Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear^(P) by them. You must not serve them or bow down^(Q) to them. ⁸But you are to hold fast to the Lord^(R) your God, as you have until now.

⁹“The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations;^(S) to this day no one has been able to withstand you.^(T) ¹⁰One of you routs a thousand,^(U) because the Lord your God fights for you,^(V) just as he promised. ¹¹So be very careful^(W) to love the Lord^(X) your God.

¹²“But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them^(Y) and associate with them,^(Z) ¹³then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out^(AA) these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares^(AB) and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes,^(AC) until you perish from this good land,^(AD) which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.^(AE) You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise^(AF) has been fulfilled; not one has failed.^(AG) ¹⁵But just as all the good things^(AH) the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things^(AI) he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you^(AJ) from this good land he has given you.^(AK) ¹⁶If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.^(AL)”

Jeremiah 12

New International Version

Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You are always righteous,^(A) Lord,
    when I bring a case^(B) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:^(C)
    Why does the way of the wicked prosper?^(D)
    Why do all the faithless live at ease?
²You have planted^(E) them, and they have taken root;
    they grow and bear fruit.^(F)
You are always on their lips
    but far from their hearts.^(G)
³Yet you know me, Lord;
    you see me and test^(H) my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep^(I) to be butchered!
    Set them apart for the day of slaughter!^(J)
⁴How long will the land lie parched^(K)
    and the grass in every field be withered?^(L)
Because those who live in it are wicked,
    the animals and birds have perished.^(M)
Moreover, the people are saying,
    “He will not see what happens to us.”

God’s Answer

⁵“If you have raced with men on foot
    and they have worn you out,
    how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble^[a] in safe country,
    how will you manage in the thickets^(N) by^[b] the Jordan?
⁶Your relatives, members of your own family—
    even they have betrayed you;
    they have raised a loud cry against you.^(O)
Do not trust them,
    though they speak well of you.^(P)

⁷“I will forsake^(Q) my house,
    abandon^(R) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love^(S)
    into the hands of her enemies.^(T)
⁸My inheritance has become to me
    like a lion^(U) in the forest.
She roars at me;
    therefore I hate her.^(V)
⁹Has not my inheritance become to me
    like a speckled bird of prey
    that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
    bring them to devour.^(W)
¹⁰Many shepherds^(X) will ruin my vineyard
    and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
    into a desolate wasteland.^(Y)
¹¹It will be made a wasteland,^(Z)
    parched and desolate before me;^(AA)
the whole land will be laid waste
    because there is no one who cares.
¹²Over all the barren heights in the desert
    destroyers will swarm,
for the sword^(AB) of the Lord^(AC) will devour^(AD)
    from one end of the land to the other;^(AE)
    no one will be safe.^(AF)
¹³They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
    they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.^(AG)
They will bear the shame of their harvest
    because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”^(AH)

¹⁴This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance^(AI) I gave my people Israel, I will uproot^(AJ) them from their lands and I will uproot^(AK) the people of Judah from among them. ¹⁵But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion^(AL) and will bring^(AM) each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. ¹⁶And if they learn^(AN) well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’^(AO)—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal^(AP)—then they will be established among my people.^(AQ) ¹⁷But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy^(AR) it,” declares the Lord.