Deuteronomy 23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Those Excluded from the Assembly
23 “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall come into the assembly of the Lord.
2 “Those born of an illicit union shall not come into the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of their descendants shall come into the assembly of the Lord.
3 “No Ammonite or Moabite shall come into the assembly of the Lord even to the tenth generation. None of their descendants shall come into the assembly of the Lord forever, 4 because they did not meet you with food and water on your journey out of Egypt and because they hired against you Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 (Yet the Lord your God refused to heed Balaam; the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you.) 6 You shall never promote their welfare or their prosperity as long as you live.
7 “You shall not abhor any of the Edomites, for they are your kin. You shall not abhor any of the Egyptians, because you were an alien residing in their land. 8 The children of the third generation that are born to them may come into the assembly of the Lord.
Sanitary, Ritual, and Humanitarian Precepts
9 “When you are encamped against your enemies, you shall guard against every evil thing.
10 “If one of you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp; he must not come within the camp. 11 When evening comes, he shall wash himself with water, and when the sun has set, he may come back into the camp.
12 “You shall have a designated area outside the camp to which you shall go. 13 With your tools you shall have a trowel; when you relieve yourself outside, you shall dig a hole with it and then cover up your excrement. 14 Because the Lord your God travels along with your camp, to save you and to hand over your enemies to you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.
15 “You shall not return to their owners slaves who have escaped to you from their owners. 16 They shall reside with you, in your midst, in any place they choose in any one of your towns, wherever they please; you shall not oppress them.
17 “None of the daughters of Israel shall serve in an illicit shrine; none of the sons of Israel shall serve in an illicit shrine.(A) 18 You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.
19 “You shall not charge interest on loans to another Israelite,[a] interest on money, interest on provisions, interest on anything that is lent.(B) 20 On loans to a foreigner you may charge interest, but on loans to another Israelite[b] you may not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings in the land that you are about to enter and possess.(C)
21 “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not postpone fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you would incur guilt.(D) 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not incur guilt. 23 Whatever your lips utter you must diligently perform, just as you have freely vowed to the Lord your God with your own 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 a container.
25 “If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.(E)
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
- Deuteronomy 23:1 Literally “bruised of crushing”
- Deuteronomy 23:1 Literally “cut off of male organ”
- Deuteronomy 23:2 Literally “to him”
- Deuteronomy 23:3 Literally “to him”
- Deuteronomy 23:3 Literally “until eternity”
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “because of the event when”
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “at your going out of Egypt”
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “because of the event when”
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Hebrew “he,” but with plural meaning
- Deuteronomy 23:4 Or “Mesopotamia” = “between the rivers”
- Deuteronomy 23:6 Literally “until eternity”
- Deuteronomy 23:8 Or “sons”
- Deuteronomy 23:8 Literally “for them” or possibly “become members of”
- Deuteronomy 23:9 Or “when”
- Deuteronomy 23:10 Literally “of the night”
- Deuteronomy 23:11 Literally “And it will happen/come about that”
- Deuteronomy 23:11 Literally “turning”
- Deuteronomy 23:11 Hebrew “in” but this is instrumental use of this preposition
- Deuteronomy 23:11 The verb can mean “coming/going” and here it means “going”
- Deuteronomy 23:12 Literally “and you shall go out there, outside to relieve yourself”
- Deuteronomy 23:13 Or “spade”
- Deuteronomy 23:13 Hebrew “utensil”
- Deuteronomy 23:13 Literally “and it will happen”
- Deuteronomy 23:13 Literally “at your sitting”
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “to give your enemies to the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “nakedness of a thing”
- Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “from behind/after you”
- Deuteronomy 23:16 Literally “in your gates good for him”
- Deuteronomy 23:17 Literally “from the daughters of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 23:17 Literally “from the sons of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “gift”
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “the earnings of a dog”
- Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “both, the two of them”
- Deuteronomy 23:19 Literally “You shall not lend on interest to your brother, interest of money”
- Deuteronomy 23:19 Hebrew “of”
- Deuteronomy 23:19 Hebrew “of”
- Deuteronomy 23:19 Or “can lend”
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Or “brother”
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “in all the sendings out of your hand”
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “the land that you are going there”
- Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “to take possession”
- Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “When/if you vow a vow”
- Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “to fulfill it”
- Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “it shall become against you as sin”
- Deuteronomy 23:22 Literally “if you refrain to make a vow”
- Deuteronomy 23:22 Literally “it shall not become against you as sin”
- Deuteronomy 23:23 Literally “you must observe and you shall do”
- Deuteronomy 23:23 Or “spoke”
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Or “If”
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Literally “according to your desire”
- Deuteronomy 23:24 Literally “to your satiation”
- Deuteronomy 23:25 Or “If”
- Deuteronomy 23:25 Literally “wave”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software