The Lord’s People

23 No man who has had ·part of his sex organ [^Lhis testicles crushed or his penis] cut off may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord [Acts 8:26–40].

² No one born ·to parents who were forbidden by law to marry [of a forbidden marriage] may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord. The descendants for ten generations may not come in either.

³ No Ammonite or Moabite may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord, and none of their descendants for ten generations may come in. ⁴ This is because the Ammonites and Moabites did not give you bread and water when you came out of Egypt. And they hired Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia, to put a curse on you [Num. 22–24]. ⁵ But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. He ·turned [transformed; overturned] the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. ⁶ Don’t ·wish for [seek] their peace or ·success [prosperity] as long as you live.

⁷ Don’t ·hate [detest] Edomites; they are your ·close relatives [brothers; ^Cdescendants of Esau the brother of Jacob/Israel]. Don’t ·hate [detest] Egyptians, because you were ·foreigners [resident aliens] in their country [^Cduring the time of Joseph, God’s people survived a famine in Egypt; Gen. 41–42]. ⁸ ·The great-grandchildren of these two peoples [^Ltheir children to the third generation] may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord.