² Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to Hanun in the land of the people of Ammon to comfort him.

²⁶ Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the ^[a]spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord”—

^3 (A)“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 (B)because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and ^(C)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 ^(D)loves you. ^6 (E)You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

³⁷ The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; ^(A)he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; ^(B)he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.

¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

³ Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”

And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

Principles of Separation^(A)

13 On that day ^(B)they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written ^(C)that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God,

⁷ Now it happened, ^(A)when Sanballat, Tobiah, ^(B)the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the ^[a]gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry,

³ Now ^(A)Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”

¹³ And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’ ”

She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”