Deuteronomy 23
Legacy Standard Bible
Those Who May Not Enter the Assembly
23 “(A)No one who is [a]emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of Yahweh. 2 No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation, none of his seed shall enter the assembly of Yahweh. 3 (B)No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation, none of their seed shall ever enter the assembly of Yahweh, 4 (C)because they did not meet you with [b]food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you (D)Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of [c]Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless, Yahweh your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but Yahweh your God (E)turned the curse into a blessing for you because Yahweh your God (F)loves you. 6 (G)You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.
7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for (H)he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian, (I)for you were a sojourner in his land. 8 The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of Yahweh.
9 “When you go out as [d]an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.
10 “(J)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 it shall be 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 outside the camp and go out there, 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 [h]to cover up your excrement. 14 Since (K)Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give your enemies over to you, therefore your camp must be (L)holy; and He must not see [i]anything indecent among you, [j]or He will turn away from you.
15 “(M)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 which he shall choose in one of your gates of the towns where it pleases him; (N)you shall not mistreat him.
17 “(O)None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, (P)nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute. 18 You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a [l](Q)dog into the house of Yahweh your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God.
19 “(R)You shall not charge interest to your brother: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 20 (S)You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, so that (T)Yahweh your God may bless you in all [m]that you send forth your hand to do in the land which you are about to enter to [n]possess.
21 “(U)When you make a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it will be a sin in you. 22 However, if you refrain from vowing, it will not be a sin in you. 23 You shall be careful and do what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to Yahweh your God that which you spoke with your mouth.
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes [o]until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your [p]basket.
25 “(V)When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 23:1 Lit wounded by crushing of testicles
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Lit bread
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Heb Aram-naharaim
- 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 23:13 Lit and
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Lit nakedness of anything
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Lit and
- Deuteronomy 23:15 Lit delivered himself
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Male prostitute, sodomite
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Lit the putting forth of your hand
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Lit possess it
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Lit according to your satisfaction of your soul
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Or vessel
Deuteronomy 23
International Standard Version
Qualifications for Assembling
23 [a]“No man whose testicles have been crushed[b] or whose penis has been cut off may participate in the assembly of the Lord. 2 Furthermore, no one born due to an illicit sexual relationship may participate in the assembly of the Lord, including his descendants to the tenth generation. 3 No Ammonite or Moabite may participate in the assembly of the Lord, and none of their descendants is to be admitted to the assembly of the Lord, to the tenth generation, 4 because they didn’t come to meet you with food and water along the way as you were coming out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Beor’s son Balaam from Pethor in Aram-naharaim[c] to curse you. 5 However, the Lord your God didn’t listen to Balaam. The Lord your God turned Balaam’s[d] curse into a blessing, because the Lord your God loves you. 6 Don’t seek a peace treaty with them as long as you live. 7 Don’t detest Edomites, since they are related to you. Don’t detest Egyptians, either, because you were strangers in their land. 8 Their grandchildren[e] may participate in the assembly of the Lord.”
Community Sanitation
9 “When you are encamped for battle against your enemies, be on guard against every form of impropriety. 10 If someone among you becomes unclean due to nocturnal emissions, he must leave the camp and stay outside. 11 As evening approaches, he must wash himself with water. Then at sunset, he may return to the camp.
12 “Choose a place outside the camp for a latrine. 13 Include a spade among your equipment so that when you squat to relieve yourself, you can dig a hole and then cover your excrement. 14 For the Lord your God is on the move within your camp to deliver you and to hand your enemies over to you. Therefore, your camp must be holy so that he will not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.”
Treatment of Slaves
15 “Don’t hand over a slave who escaped from his master when he runs to you. 16 Let him live among you wherever he chooses in any of your cities that he likes. Don’t mistreat him.”
Cultic Prostitution Prohibited
17 “There are to be no cultic prostitutes among the daughters or the sons of Israel. 18 Don’t bring the earnings of a female prostitute nor the income of a male prostitute into the house of the Lord your God as payment for any vow. Both of these are detestable to the Lord your God.”
Fair Dealings
19 “Don’t charge interest to your relatives, whether for money, food, or for anything that has been loaned at interest. 20 You may charge interest to a foreigner, but don’t charge interest to your relatives, so the Lord your God may bless you in everything you undertake in the land that you are about to enter and possess.
21 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, don’t delay paying it, because the Lord your God will certainly demand payment from you, and then you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, then you won’t be guilty. 23 Be sure you do whatever you promise, because you have given your word voluntarily to the Lord your God.
24 “When you enter your countrymen’s vineyard, you may eat the grapes to your satisfaction, but don’t take any in a basket. 25 When you enter your countrymen’s grain fields, you may pluck the grain with your hand, but don’t put a sickle to his standing grain.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 23:1 This v. is 2 in MT, and so throughout the chapter.
- Deuteronomy 23:1 Or wounded
- Deuteronomy 23:4 I.e. Mesopotamia
- Deuteronomy 23:5 Lit. his
- Deuteronomy 23:8 Lit. Children born in the third generation
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
