Deuteronomy 23:3-25
New American Standard Bible
3 (A)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 (B)because they did not meet you with [a]food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you (C)Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of [b]Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless, the Lord your God was unwilling to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God (D)turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God (E)loves you. 6 (F)You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.
7 “You shall not loathe an [c]Edomite, for (G)he is your brother; you shall not loathe an Egyptian, (H)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 [d]an army against your enemies, you shall be on guard against every evil thing.
10 “(I)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 [e]reenter the camp. 11 But when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may [f]reenter 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 [g]spade 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 (J)the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to save you and to [h]defeat your enemies before you, your camp must be (K)holy; so He must not see [i]anything indecent among you [j]or He will turn away from you.
15 “(L)You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has [k]escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall live with you in your midst, in the place that he chooses in one of your [l]towns where it pleases him; (M)you shall not mistreat him.
17 “(N)None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, (O)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 [m](P)dog 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 “(Q)You are not to charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned on interest. 20 (R)You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that (S)the Lord your God may bless you in all [n]that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to [o]possess.
21 “(T)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 [p]for you. 22 However, if you refrain from making vows, it will not be a sin [q]for you. 23 You shall be careful and perform what goes out of your lips, since in fact you have vowed a [r]voluntary offering to the Lord your God, whatever you have [s]promised.
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat grapes [t]until you are satisfied; but you are not to put any in your [u]basket.
25 “(U)When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you are not to [v]use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Lit bread
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Heb Aram-naharaim
- Deuteronomy 23:7 I.e., a descendant of Esau
- Deuteronomy 23:9 Or a camp
- Deuteronomy 23:10 Lit come to the midst of
- Deuteronomy 23:11 Lit come to the midst of
- Deuteronomy 23:13 Lit peg
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Lit give
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Lit nakedness of anything
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Lit and
- Deuteronomy 23:15 Lit delivered himself
- Deuteronomy 23:16 Lit gates in the good to him
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Prob. refers to a male prostitute
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Lit the putting forth of your hand
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Lit possess it
- Deuteronomy 23:21 Lit in you
- Deuteronomy 23:22 Lit in you
- Deuteronomy 23:23 Or freewill offering
- Deuteronomy 23:23 Lit spoken with your mouth
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Lit according to your soul, your satiation
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Lit container
- Deuteronomy 23:25 Lit brandish
Deuteronomy 23:3-25
English Standard Version
3 (A)“No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, 4 (B)because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they (C)hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of (D)Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned (E)the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you. 6 You (F)shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever.
7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for (G)he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because (H)you were a sojourner in his land. 8 Children born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord.
Uncleanness in the Camp
9 “When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.
10 “If any man among you becomes (I)unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come inside the camp, 11 but when evening comes, he shall (J)bathe himself in water, and as the sun sets, he may come inside the camp.
12 “You shall have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out to it. 13 And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement. 14 Because (K)the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.
Miscellaneous Laws
15 (L)“You shall not give up to his master a slave[a] who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him.
17 “None of the (M)daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none (N)of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. 18 You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog[b] into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.
19 (O)“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, (P)interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. 20 (Q)You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, (R)that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
21 (S)“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.
24 “If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. 25 If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, (T)you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 23:15 Or servant; the Hebrew term ‘ebed designates a range of social and economic roles (see Preface)
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Or male prostitute
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
