The Lord’s People

23 No man who has had ·part of his sex organ [^Lhis testicles crushed or his penis] cut off may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord [Acts 8:26–40].

² No one born ·to parents who were forbidden by law to marry [of a forbidden marriage] may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord. The descendants for ten generations may not come in either.

³ No Ammonite or Moabite may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] 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 son of Beor, from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia, to put a curse on you [Num. 22–24]. ⁵ But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. He ·turned [transformed; overturned] the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. ⁶ Don’t ·wish for [seek] their peace or ·success [prosperity] as long as you live.

⁷ Don’t ·hate [detest] Edomites; they are your ·close relatives [brothers; ^Cdescendants of Esau the brother of Jacob/Israel]. Don’t ·hate [detest] Egyptians, because you were ·foreigners [resident aliens] in their country [^Cduring the time of Joseph, God’s people survived a famine in Egypt; Gen. 41–42]. ⁸ ·The great-grandchildren of these two peoples [^Ltheir children to the third generation] may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord.

Keeping the Camp Clean

⁹ When you are camped ·in time of war [^Lagainst your enemies], keep away from ·unclean things [foulness; ^La bad/evil thing; ^Creferring to ritual uncleanness]. ¹⁰ If a man becomes unclean during the night, he must go outside the camp and not come back [^Creferring to an emission of semen; Lev. 15:16]. ¹¹ But when evening comes, he must wash himself, and at sunset he may come back into the camp.

¹² Choose a place outside the camp where people may go ·to relieve themselves [^Loutside]. ¹³ ·Carry a tent peg with you [^LAs part of your equipment have a tent peg/or trowel with you], and when you ·relieve yourself [squat; ^Lsit], dig a hole and cover up your ·dung [excrement]. ¹⁴ The Lord your God ·moves [walks] around through your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies for you, so the camp must be holy. He must not see anything ·unclean [indecent] among you so that he will not leave you.

Other Laws

¹⁵ If an escaped slave comes to you, do not hand over the slave to his master. ¹⁶ Let the slave live with you anywhere he likes, in any ·town [gate] he chooses. Do not ·mistreat [oppress; exploit] him.

¹⁷ No Israelite ·man [^Lson] or ·woman [^Ldaughter] must ever become a ·temple [sacred] prostitute. ¹⁸ Do not bring ·a male or female prostitute’s pay [^Lthe pay of a prostitute or the price of a “dog”; ^C“dog” is probably a reference to a male temple prostitute] to the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord your God to pay what you have ·promised [vowed] to the Lord, because the Lord your God ·hates [detests] ·prostitution [^Lboth of them; ^Cmale and female temple prostitution].

¹⁹ If you loan your ·fellow Israelites [relatives; brothers] money or food or anything else, don’t make them pay back ·more than you loaned them [interest; Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:36–37]. ²⁰ You may charge foreigners, but not ·fellow Israelites [^Lyour relatives/brothers]. Then the Lord your God will bless ·everything you do [your undertakings; ^Lall that is sent out from your hand] in the land you are entering to ·take as your own [possess].

²¹ If you make a ·promise [vow] to give ·something [a vow] to the Lord your God [Lev. 7:16–17; Num. 30:2–17], do not ·be slow [delay] to pay it, because the Lord your God ·demands [will surely seek] it from you. Do not be guilty of sin. ²² But if you do not make the ·promise [vow], you will not be guilty. ²³ You must do whatever ·you say you will do [^Lcomes out of your lips], because you ·chose to make [^Lfreely made with your own mouth] the ·promise [vow] to the Lord your God [Eccl. 5:4–5].

²⁴ If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you wish, but do not put any grapes into your basket. ²⁵ If you go into your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick grain with your hands, but you must not cut down your neighbor’s grain with your sickle.