Joshua 1:5 (WEB)

Passage

No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.

Nearby Context

Joshua 1:3 I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, as I told Moses.

Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

Joshua 1:5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.

Joshua 1:6 “Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

Joshua 1:7 Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "able", "stand", "before", "days", "life", "moses", "fail", and "forsake". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "able" and "stand", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "From the wilderness and this Lebanon even..." into verse 6's "Be strong and courageous for you shall...", so "able" and "stand" 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 "able" and "stand" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.