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23 He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly. A person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into Yahweh’s assembly. An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into Yahweh’s assembly forever, because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam, but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you. You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter into Yahweh’s assembly.

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Qualifications for Assembling

23 [a]“No man whose testicles have been crushed[b] or whose penis has been cut off may participate in the assembly of the Lord. Furthermore, no one born due to an illicit sexual relationship may participate in the assembly of the Lord, including his descendants to the tenth generation. No Ammonite or Moabite may participate in the assembly of the Lord, and none of their descendants is to be admitted to the assembly of the Lord, to the tenth generation, because they didn’t come to meet you with food and water along the way as you were coming out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Beor’s son Balaam from Pethor in Aram-naharaim[c] to curse you. However, the Lord your God didn’t listen to Balaam. The Lord your God turned Balaam’s[d] curse into a blessing, because the Lord your God loves you. Don’t seek a peace treaty with them as long as you live. Don’t detest Edomites, since they are related to you. Don’t detest Egyptians, either, because you were strangers in their land. Their grandchildren[e] may participate in the assembly of the Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 23:1 This v. is 2 in MT, and so throughout the chapter.
  2. Deuteronomy 23:1 Or wounded
  3. Deuteronomy 23:4 I.e. Mesopotamia
  4. Deuteronomy 23:5 Lit. his
  5. Deuteronomy 23:8 Lit. Children born in the third generation