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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.

“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.

“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, 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. (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.) You shall never promote their welfare or their prosperity as long as you live.

“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. The children of the third generation that are born to them may come into the assembly of the Lord.

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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. 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. 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. 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) 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) Never seek their peace or prosperity as long as you live. Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were a foreign resident in his land. The children born to them in the third generation may enter the Lord’s assembly.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 23:1 Lit man bruised by crushing