Deuteronomy 23
New American Standard Bible
Persons Excluded from the Assembly
23 “(A)No one who is [a]emasculated or has his male organ cut off may enter the assembly of the Lord. 2 No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, may enter the assembly of the Lord. 3 (B)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 (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, the Lord your God was unwilling to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God (E)turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God (F)loves you. 6 (G)You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.
7 “You shall not loathe an [d]Edomite, for (H)he is your brother; you shall not loathe an Egyptian, (I)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 [e]an army against your enemies, you shall be on guard against 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 [f]reenter the camp. 11 But when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may [g]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 [h]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 (K)the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to save you and to [i]defeat your enemies before you, your camp must be (L)holy; so He must not see [j]anything indecent among you [k]or He will turn away from you.
15 “(M)You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has [l]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 [m]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 earnings of a prostitute or the money for a [n](Q)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 “(R)You are not to charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned on interest. 20 (S)You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that (T)the Lord your God may bless you in all [o]that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to [p]possess.
21 “(U)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 [q]for you. 22 However, if you refrain from making vows, it will not be a sin [r]for you. 23 You shall be careful and perform what goes out of your lips, since in fact you have vowed a [s]voluntary offering to the Lord your God, whatever you have [t]promised.
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat grapes [u]until you are satisfied; but you are not to put any in your [v]basket.
25 “(V)When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you are not to [w]use a sickle on 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 23:7 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
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Exclusion and Inclusion
23 “No man whose testicles have been crushed[a] or whose penis has been cut off may enter the Lord’s assembly. 2 No one of illegitimate birth may enter the Lord’s assembly; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, may enter the Lord’s assembly. 3 No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the Lord’s assembly;(A) none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the Lord’s assembly. 4 This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you.(B) 5 Yet the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but He turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves(C) you.(D) 6 Never seek their peace or prosperity as long as you live. 7 Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were a foreign resident in his land. 8 The children born to them in the third generation may enter the Lord’s assembly.
Cleanliness of the Camp
9 “When you are encamped against your enemies, be careful to avoid anything offensive. 10 If there is a man among you who is unclean because of a bodily emission during the night, he must go outside the camp; he may not come anywhere inside the camp. 11 When evening approaches, he must wash with water, and when the sun sets he may come inside the camp.(E) 12 You must have a place outside the camp and go there to relieve yourself. 13 You must have a digging tool in your equipment; when you relieve yourself, dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement. 14 For the Lord your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you; so your encampments must be holy. He must not see anything improper among you or He will turn away from you.
Fugitive Slaves
15 “Do not return a slave to his master when he has escaped from his master to you. 16 Let him live among you wherever he wants within your gates. Do not mistreat him.
Cult Prostitution Forbidden
17 “No Israelite woman is to be a cult prostitute, and no Israelite man is to be a cult prostitute. 18 Do not bring a female prostitute’s wages or a male prostitute’s[b] earnings into the house of the Lord your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the Lord your God.
Interest on Loans
19 “Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or anything that can earn interest. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but you must not charge your brother interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do[c] in the land you are entering to possess.(F)
Keeping Vows
21 “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will require it of you, and it will be counted against you as sin. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, it will not be counted against you as sin. 23 Be careful to do whatever comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed what you promised[d] to the Lord your God.(G)
Neighbor’s Crops
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you want until you are full, but you must not put any in your container. 25 When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 23:1 Lit man bruised by crushing
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Lit a dog’s
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Lit you put your hand to
- Deuteronomy 23:23 Lit promised with your mouth
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