Deuteronomy 23
Lexham English Bible
23 “No man with crushed testicles[a] or whose male organ is cut off[b] may come into the assembly of Yahweh.
2 An illegitimate child may not come into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants[c] may come into the assembly of Yahweh.
3 An Ammonite or a Moabite may not come into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants[d] may come into the assembly of Yahweh forever,[e] 4 because[f] they did not come to meet you with food and with water when you came out of Egypt,[g] and also because[h] they[i] hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor, in Aram Naharaim[j] to act against you to curse you. 5 But Yahweh your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, and Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because Yahweh your God loved you. 6 You shall not promote their welfare or their prosperity all your days forever.[k]
7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, because he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian because you were an alien in his land. 8 The children[l] that are born to them in the third generation may come representing them[m] in the assembly of Yahweh.
9 “If[n] you go out to encamp against your enemies, then you shall guard against doing anything evil.
10 “If there is among you a man that is not clean because of a seminal emission during the night,[o] he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come within the camp. 11 And then[p] toward the coming[q] of the evening, he shall bathe with[r] water, and at the going down[s] of the sun, he may come to the midst of the camp.
12 “And there shall be for you a designated place outside the camp; and you shall go there to relieve yourself,[t] 13 and a digging tool[u] shall be included in addition to your other utensils[v] for yourself; and then[w] when you relieve yourself[x] outside the camp you shall dig with it, and then you shall turn, and you shall cover your excrement. 14 For Yahweh your God is walking about in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to hand your enemies over to you before you,[y] and so let your camp be holy, so that he shall not see in it anything indecent,[z] and he shall turn away from going with you.[aa]
15 “And you shall not hand over a slave to his master who has escaped and fled to you from his master. 16 He shall reside with you in your midst in the place that he chooses in one of your towns wherever he pleases;[ab] you shall not oppress him.
17 “No woman of Israel[ac] shall be a temple prostitute, and no man of Israel[ad] shall be a male shrine prostitute. 18 You may not bring the hire[ae] of a prostitute or the earnings of a male prostitute[af] into the house of Yahweh your God, for any vow offerings, because both[ag] are a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.
19 “You shall not charge your brother interest on money,[ah] interest on[ai] food, or interest on[aj] anything that one could lend[ak] on interest. 20 You may lend on interest to the foreigner, but to your countryman[al] you may not lend on interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all your undertakings[am] in the land where you are going,[an] in order to take possession of it.[ao]
21 “When you make a vow[ap] to Yahweh your God, you shall not postpone fulfillment of it,[aq] for certainly Yahweh your God shall require it from you and if postponed you will incur guilt.[ar] 22 And if you refrain from vowing,[as] you shall not incur guilt.[at] 23 The utterance of your lips you must perform diligently[au] just as you have vowed freely to Yahweh your God whatever it was that you promised[av] with your mouth.
24 “When[aw] you come into the vineyard of your neighbor, then you may eat grapes as you please[ax] and until you are full,[ay] but you shall not put any into your container.
25 “When[az] you come into the standing grain of your neighbor, then you may pluck ears with your hand, but you may not swing[ba] a sickle among the standing grain of your neighbor.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 23:1 Literally “bruised of crushing”
- Deuteronomy 23:1 Literally “cut off of male organ”
- Deuteronomy 23:2 Literally “to him”
- Deuteronomy 23:3 Literally “to him”
- Deuteronomy 23:3 Literally “until eternity”
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “because of the event when”
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “at your going out of Egypt”
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “because of the event when”
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Hebrew “he,” but with plural meaning
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Or “Mesopotamia” = “between the rivers”
- Deuteronomy 23:6 Literally “until eternity”
- Deuteronomy 23:8 Or “sons”
- Deuteronomy 23:8 Literally “for them” or possibly “become members of”
- Deuteronomy 23:9 Or “when”
- Deuteronomy 23:10 Literally “of the night”
- Deuteronomy 23:11 Literally “And it will happen/come about that”
- Deuteronomy 23:11 Literally “turning”
- Deuteronomy 23:11 Hebrew “in” but this is instrumental use of this preposition
- Deuteronomy 23:11 The verb can mean “coming/going” and here it means “going”
- Deuteronomy 23:12 Literally “and you shall go out there, outside to relieve yourself”
- Deuteronomy 23:13 Or “spade”
- Deuteronomy 23:13 Hebrew “utensil”
- Deuteronomy 23:13 Literally “and it will happen”
- Deuteronomy 23:13 Literally “at your sitting”
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “to give your enemies to the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “nakedness of a thing”
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “from behind/after you”
- Deuteronomy 23:16 Literally “in your gates good for him”
- Deuteronomy 23:17 Literally “from the daughters of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 23:17 Literally “from the sons of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “gift”
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “the earnings of a dog”
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “both, the two of them”
- Deuteronomy 23:19 Literally “You shall not lend on interest to your brother, interest of money”
- Deuteronomy 23:19 Hebrew “of”
- Deuteronomy 23:19 Hebrew “of”
- Deuteronomy 23:19 Or “can lend”
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Or “brother”
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “in all the sendings out of your hand”
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “the land that you are going there”
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “to take possession”
- Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “When/if you vow a vow”
- Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “to fulfill it”
- Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “it shall become against you as sin”
- Deuteronomy 23:22 Literally “if you refrain to make a vow”
- Deuteronomy 23:22 Literally “it shall not become against you as sin”
- Deuteronomy 23:23 Literally “you must observe and you shall do”
- Deuteronomy 23:23 Or “spoke”
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Or “If”
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Literally “according to your desire”
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Literally “to your satiation”
- Deuteronomy 23:25 Or “If”
- Deuteronomy 23:25 Literally “wave”
Deuteronomy 23
International Children’s Bible
The Lord’s People
23 No man who has had part of his sex organ cut off may come into the worship meeting of the Lord’s people.
2 No one born to parents who were forbidden by law to marry may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. His descendants for ten generations may not come in either.
3 No Ammonite or Moabite may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. And none of their descendants for ten generations may come in. 4 This is because the Ammonites and Moabites did not give you bread and water when you came out of Egypt. And they hired Balaam to put a curse on you. He was the son of Beor from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. He turned the curse into a blessing for you. The Lord your God loves you. 6 Don’t wish for their peace or success as long as you live.
7 Don’t hate Edomites. They are your relatives. Don’t hate Egyptians, because you were foreigners in their country. 8 The great-grandchildren of these two peoples may come into the meeting to worship the Lord.
Keeping the Camp Clean
9 When you are camped in time of war, keep away from unclean things. 10 A man might become unclean during the night. If he does, he must go outside the camp and not come back. 11 But when evening comes, he must wash himself. At sunset he may come back into the camp.
12 Choose a place outside the camp where people may go to relieve themselves. 13 Carry a stick with you. When you relieve yourself, dig a hole. Cover up your dung. 14 The Lord your God moves around through your camp. He will protect you. He will help you defeat your enemies. So the camp must be holy. The Lord must not see anything unclean among you. Then he will not leave you.
Other Laws
15 An escaped slave might come to you. Do not hand him over to his master. 16 Let the slave live with you anywhere he likes. He may live in any town he chooses. Do not mistreat him.
17 No Israelite man or woman must ever become a temple prostitute. 18 Do not bring a male or female prostitute’s pay to the Temple of the Lord your God to pay what you have promised to the Lord. The Lord your God hates prostitution.
19 You may loan your fellow Israelite money or food or anything else. But don’t make him pay back more than what you loaned him. 20 You may charge a foreigner, but not a fellow Israelite. Then the Lord your God will bless everything you do. He will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.
21 You might make a promise to give something to the Lord your God. Do not be slow to pay it. The Lord your God demands it from you. Do not be guilty of sin. 22 But if you do not make the promise, you will not be guilty. 23 You must do whatever you say you will do. You chose to make the promise to the Lord your God.
24 You might go into your neighbor’s vineyard. You may eat as many grapes as you wish. But do not fill your basket with his grapes. 25 You might go into your neighbor’s grainfield. You may pick grain with your hands. But you must not cut down his grain with your sickle.
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The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
