Deuteronomy 23:1-18

New King James Version

Those Excluded from the Congregation

23 “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall ^(A)not enter the assembly of the Lord.

² “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

^3 (B)“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever, ^4 (C)because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and ^(D)because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of ^[a]Mesopotamia, to curse you. ⁵ Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God ^(E)loves you. ^6 (F)You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

⁷ “You shall not abhor an Edomite, ^(G)for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because ^(H)you were an alien in his land. ⁸ The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Cleanliness of the Campsite

⁹ “When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing. ^10 (I)If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp. ¹¹ But it shall be, when evening comes, that ^(J)he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp.

¹² “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; ¹³ and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. ¹⁴ For the Lord your God ^(K)walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

Miscellaneous Laws

^15 (L)“You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you. ¹⁶ He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it ^[b]seems best to him; ^(M)you shall not oppress him.

¹⁷ “There shall be no ritual ^[c]harlot ^(N)of the daughters of Israel, or a ^(O)perverted^[d] one of the sons of Israel. ¹⁸ You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the Lord your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are ^[e]an abomination to the Lord your God.