The occurrence of two “if” clauses (If you do not … if you serve …) in a single sentence tends to make comprehension difficult. Moreover, the verbs serve and worship are synonyms, and the phrase in his anger means “he will become angry.” This verse may then be translated:

• The LORD our God made a covenant with you, and he expects you to be faithful to it. If you turn from him, and worship other gods, he will become angry with you and punish you. Soon none of you will be left in this good land that he has given you.

The end of verse 16 is identical with the end of verse 13; here the adverb “quickly” (Good News Translation soon) is added. In this verse the covenant is specifically mentioned; it is the sum and substance of the commandments in verses 6-11 (Bright).

Although the last parts of verse 15 and 16 are essentially the same as the end of verse 13, one may feel uneasy about leaving out the last part of verse 15. On the other hand, the omission of this information from verse 15 may make its appearances in verses 13 and 16 more effective. One solution would be to number verses 15-16 as a unit, placing in the text only the ending of verse 16.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .