Joshua 1:6 (DRB)

Passage

Take courage, and be strong: for thou shalt divide by lot to this people the land for which I swore to their fathers, that I would deliver it to them.

Nearby Context

Joshua 1:4 From the desert, and from Libanus unto the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hethites, unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

Joshua 1:5 No man shall be able to resist you all the days of thy life: as I have been with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Joshua 1:6 Take courage, and be strong: for thou shalt divide by lot to this people the land for which I swore to their fathers, that I would deliver it to them.

Joshua 1:7 Take courage therefore, and be very valiant: that thou mayst observe and do all the law, which Moses my servant hath commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayst understand all things which thou dost.

Joshua 1:8 Let not the book of this law depart from thy mouth: but thou shalt meditate on it day and night, that thou mayst observe and do all things that are written in it: then shalt thou direct thy way, and understand it.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "take", "courage", "strong", "thou", "shalt", "divide", "people", and "land". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "take" and "courage", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "No man shall be able to resist..." into verse 7's "Take courage therefore and be very valiant...", so "take" and "courage" belong inside that flow. In Joshua context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "take" and "courage" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.