Deuteronomy 23

Persons Excluded from the Assembly

1 "No one who is *23:1 Lit wounded by crushing of testiclesemasculated or has his male organ cut off may enter the assembly of the Lord. 2 No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, may enter the assembly of the Lord. 3 No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the assembly of the Lord, 4 because they did not meet you with *23:4 Lit breadfood and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of *23:4 Heb Aram-naharaimMesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless, the Lord your God was unwilling to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you. 6 You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.

7 "You shall not loathe an *23:7 I.e., a descendant of EsauEdomite, for he is your brother; you shall not loathe an Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land. 8 The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.

9 "When you go out as *23:9 Or a campan army against your enemies, you shall be on guard against every evil thing.

10 "If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not *23:10 Lit come to the midst ofreenter the camp. 11 But when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may *23:11 Lit come to the midst ofreenter the camp.

12 "You shall also have a place allocated outside the camp, so that you may go out there to relieve yourself,13 and you shall have a *23:13 Lit pegspade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn and cover up your excrement. 14 Since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to save you and to *23:14 Lit givedefeat your enemies before you, your camp must be holy; so He must not see *23:14 Lit nakedness of anythinganything indecent among you *23:14 Lit andor He will turn away from you.

15 "You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has *23:15 Lit delivered himselfescaped from his master to you. 16 He shall live with you in your midst, in the place that he chooses in one of your *23:16 Lit gates in the good to himtowns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him.

17 "None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute. 18 You shall not bring the earnings of a prostitute or the money for a *23:18 Prob. refers to a male prostitutedog into the house of the Lord your God as payment for any vowed offering, because both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

19 "You are not to charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned on interest. 20 You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all *23:20 Lit the putting forth of your handthat you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to *23:20 Lit possess itpossess.

21 "When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly require it of you, and it will be a sin *23:21 Lit in youfor you. 22 However, if you refrain from making vows, it will not be a sin *23:22 Lit in youfor you. 23 You shall be careful and perform what goes out of your lips, since in fact you have vowed a *23:23 Or freewill offeringvoluntary offering to the Lord your God, whatever you have *23:23 Lit spoken with your mouthpromised.

24 "When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat grapes *23:24 Lit according to your soul, your satiationuntil you are satisfied; but you are not to put any in your *23:24 Lit containerbasket.

25 "When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you are not to *23:25 Lit brandishuse a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.