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Deuteronomy 23
New King James Version

Those Excluded from the Congregation

23 “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall (A)not enter the assembly of the Lord.

2 “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

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

7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, (G)for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because (H)you were an alien in his land. 8 The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Cleanliness of the Campsite

9 “When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing. 10 (I)If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp. 11 But it shall be, when evening comes, that (J)he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp.

12 “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; 13 and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. 14 For the Lord your God (K)walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

Miscellaneous Laws

15 (L)“You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it [b]seems best to him; (M)you shall not oppress him.

17 “There shall be no ritual [c]harlot (N)of the daughters of Israel, or a (O)perverted[d] one of the sons of Israel. 18 You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the Lord your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are [e]an abomination to the Lord your God.

19 (P)“You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest. 20 (Q)To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, (R)that the Lord your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.

21 (S)“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. 22 But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. 23 (T)That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.

24 “When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. 25 When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, (U)you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 23:4 Heb. Aram Naharaim
  2. Deuteronomy 23:16 pleases him best
  3. Deuteronomy 23:17 Heb. qedeshah, fem. of qadesh (next note)
  4. Deuteronomy 23:17 Heb. qadesh, one practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals
  5. Deuteronomy 23:18 detestable
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Deuteronomy 23
Lexham English Bible

23 “No man with crushed testicles[a] or whose male organ is cut off[b] may come into the assembly of Yahweh.

2 An illegitimate child may not come into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants[c] may come into the assembly of Yahweh.

3 An Ammonite or a Moabite may not come into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants[d] may come into the assembly of Yahweh forever,[e] 4 because[f] they did not come to meet you with food and with water when you came out of Egypt,[g] and also because[h] they[i] hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor, in Aram Naharaim[j] to act against you to curse you. 5 But Yahweh your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, and Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because Yahweh your God loved you. 6 You shall not promote their welfare or their prosperity all your days forever.[k]

7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, because he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian because you were an alien in his land. 8 The children[l] that are born to them in the third generation may come representing them[m] in the assembly of Yahweh.

9 “If[n] you go out to encamp against your enemies, then you shall guard against doing anything evil.

10 “If there is among you a man that is not clean because of a seminal emission during the night,[o] he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come within the camp. 11 And then[p] toward the coming[q] of the evening, he shall bathe with[r] water, and at the going down[s] of the sun, he may come to the midst of the camp.

12 “And there shall be for you a designated place outside the camp; and you shall go there to relieve yourself,[t] 13 and a digging tool[u] shall be included in addition to your other utensils[v] for yourself; and then[w] when you relieve yourself[x] outside the camp you shall dig with it, and then you shall turn, and you shall cover your excrement. 14 For Yahweh your God is walking about in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to hand your enemies over to you before you,[y] and so let your camp be holy, so that he shall not see in it anything indecent,[z] and he shall turn away from going with you.[aa]

15 “And you shall not hand over a slave to his master who has escaped and fled to you from his master. 16 He shall reside with you in your midst in the place that he chooses in one of your towns wherever he pleases;[ab] you shall not oppress him.

17 “No woman of Israel[ac] shall be a temple prostitute, and no man of Israel[ad] shall be a male shrine prostitute. 18 You may not bring the hire[ae] of a prostitute or the earnings of a male prostitute[af] into the house of Yahweh your God, for any vow offerings, because both[ag] are a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.

19 “You shall not charge your brother interest on money,[ah] interest on[ai] food, or interest on[aj] anything that one could lend[ak] on interest. 20 You may lend on interest to the foreigner, but to your countryman[al] you may not lend on interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all your undertakings[am] in the land where you are going,[an] in order to take possession of it.[ao]

21 “When you make a vow[ap] to Yahweh your God, you shall not postpone fulfillment of it,[aq] for certainly Yahweh your God shall require it from you and if postponed you will incur guilt.[ar] 22 And if you refrain from vowing,[as] you shall not incur guilt.[at] 23 The utterance of your lips you must perform diligently[au] just as you have vowed freely to Yahweh your God whatever it was that you promised[av] with your mouth.

24 “When[aw] you come into the vineyard of your neighbor, then you may eat grapes as you please[ax] and until you are full,[ay] but you shall not put any into your container.

25 “When[az] you come into the standing grain of your neighbor, then you may pluck ears with your hand, but you may not swing[ba] a sickle among the standing grain of your neighbor.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 23:1 Literally “bruised of crushing”
  2. Deuteronomy 23:1 Literally “cut off of male organ”
  3. Deuteronomy 23:2 Literally “to him”
  4. Deuteronomy 23:3 Literally “to him”
  5. Deuteronomy 23:3 Literally “until eternity”
  6. Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “because of the event when”
  7. Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “at your going out of Egypt”
  8. Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “because of the event when”
  9. Deuteronomy 23:4 Hebrew “he,” but with plural meaning
  10. Deuteronomy 23:4 Or “Mesopotamia” = “between the rivers”
  11. Deuteronomy 23:6 Literally “until eternity”
  12. Deuteronomy 23:8 Or “sons”
  13. Deuteronomy 23:8 Literally “for them” or possibly “become members of”
  14. Deuteronomy 23:9 Or “when”
  15. Deuteronomy 23:10 Literally “of the night”
  16. Deuteronomy 23:11 Literally “And it will happen/come about that”
  17. Deuteronomy 23:11 Literally “turning”
  18. Deuteronomy 23:11 Hebrew “in” but this is instrumental use of this preposition
  19. Deuteronomy 23:11 The verb can mean “coming/going” and here it means “going”
  20. Deuteronomy 23:12 Literally “and you shall go out there, outside to relieve yourself”
  21. Deuteronomy 23:13 Or “spade”
  22. Deuteronomy 23:13 Hebrew “utensil”
  23. Deuteronomy 23:13 Literally “and it will happen”
  24. Deuteronomy 23:13 Literally “at your sitting”
  25. Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “to give your enemies to the face of you”
  26. Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “nakedness of a thing”
  27. Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “from behind/after you”
  28. Deuteronomy 23:16 Literally “in your gates good for him”
  29. Deuteronomy 23:17 Literally “from the daughters of Israel”
  30. Deuteronomy 23:17 Literally “from the sons of Israel”
  31. Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “gift”
  32. Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “the earnings of a dog”
  33. Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “both, the two of them”
  34. Deuteronomy 23:19 Literally “You shall not lend on interest to your brother, interest of money”
  35. Deuteronomy 23:19 Hebrew “of”
  36. Deuteronomy 23:19 Hebrew “of”
  37. Deuteronomy 23:19 Or “can lend”
  38. Deuteronomy 23:20 Or “brother”
  39. Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “in all the sendings out of your hand”
  40. Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “the land that you are going there”
  41. Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “to take possession”
  42. Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “When/if you vow a vow”
  43. Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “to fulfill it”
  44. Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “it shall become against you as sin”
  45. Deuteronomy 23:22 Literally “if you refrain to make a vow”
  46. Deuteronomy 23:22 Literally “it shall not become against you as sin”
  47. Deuteronomy 23:23 Literally “you must observe and you shall do”
  48. Deuteronomy 23:23 Or “spoke”
  49. Deuteronomy 23:24 Or “If”
  50. Deuteronomy 23:24 Literally “according to your desire”
  51. Deuteronomy 23:24 Literally “to your satiation”
  52. Deuteronomy 23:25 Or “If”
  53. Deuteronomy 23:25 Literally “wave”
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Deuteronomy 22
Deuteronomy 24
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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