Deuteronomy 23

1 “Any man whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall not be (included as one of/allowed to worship with) Yahweh’s people.

No man whose genitals have been damaged or cut off is allowed to enter the Lord's sanctuary.

2 “No (illegitimate person/person whose mother and father were not married), or descendant of that person, extending to the tenth generation, shall be included as one of Yahweh’s people.

No one of mixed race is allowed to enter the Lord's sanctuary, and none of his descendants may do so either, up to the tenth generation.

3 “No one from the Ammon or Moab people-groups shall be (included as one of/allowed to worship with) Yahweh’s people, extending to the tenth generation.

No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants are allowed to enter the Lord's sanctuary, up to the tenth generation.

4 One reason is that their [leaders] refused to give your ancestors food and water when they were traveling from Egypt [to Canaan]. Another reason is that they wanted to pay Balaam, the son of Beor from Pethor [town] in Mesopotamia, to curse you Israelis.

For they did not come to meet you with food and water on your journey from Egypt, and they hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you.

5 But Yahweh our God did not pay attention to Balaam; instead, he caused Balaam to bless your ancestors, because Yahweh loved them.

But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam. The Lord your God turned what was meant to be a curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you.

6 As long as Israel is a nation, you must not do anything to cause things to go well for those two people-groups or enable them to prosper.

Don't arrange a peace treaty with them or help them out as long as you live.

7 “But do not despise anyone from the Edom people-group, because they are [descendants of your ancestor Jacob], just like you are. And do not despise people from Egypt, because [they treated your ancestors well when] they first lived in Egypt.

Don't look down on an Edomite, for they are your relatives. Don't look down on an Egyptian either, because you lived as foreigners in their country.

8 The children and grandchildren of people from Edom and Egypt [who live among you] may be (included among/allowed to worship with) Yahweh’s people.”

The third generation of their children are allowed to enter the Lord's sanctuary.

9 “When your soldiers are living in tents at a time of fighting your enemies, they must avoid doing things that would make them unacceptable to God.

When you are in an army camp during a war with your enemies, make sure you avoid anything wrong.

10 If any soldier becomes unacceptable to God because semen comes out of his body during the night, [the next morning] he must go outside the camp and stay there during that day.

Any man there who becomes unclean because of a release of semen must leave the camp and remain outside.

11 But in the evening of that day, he must bathe himself, and at sunset he is allowed to come back into the camp.

Towards the end of the day he must wash himself with water, and at sunset he may return to the camp.

12 “Your soldiers must have a toilet area outside the camp where you can go [when you need to].

Choose a place outside the camp to be used as a toilet.

13 [When you go to fight against your enemies], carry a stick along with your weapons, in order that when you need to defecate [EUP], you can dig a hole with the stick, and then cover up the hole [when you have finished defecating].

You need to have a spade as part of your equipment so that you can dig a hole, and then when you're finished you can cover up your excrement.

14 You must keep the camp acceptable to Yahweh our God, because he is with you in your camp to protect you and to enable you to defeat your enemies. Do not do anything disgraceful/indecent that would cause Yahweh to abandon you.”

The Lord your God is present with you in your camp to keep you safe and to defeat your enemies. Your camp must be kept holy, because if he sees anything unclean among you and he will leave you.

15 “If slaves who escape from their masters come to you [and request you to protect them], do not send them back to their masters.

Don't send a slave back to their master if they have come to you for protection.

16 Allow them to stay/live among you, in whatever town they choose, and do not mistreat them.

Let the slave live in your country wherever they want, in whatever town they want. Don't mistreat them.

17 “Do not [allow] any Israeli man or woman [to] become a prostitute at the temple.

No Israelite women or men are to be cult prostitutes.

18 Also, do not allow any people who earned money from being a prostitute to bring any of that money into the temple of Yahweh our God, even if they solemnly promised to pay that money to Yahweh. Yahweh hates those who are prostitutes.

Don't bring into the house of the Lord your God any money from a prostitute, whether a woman or a man, using it to fulfill a promise to the Lord, for both are offensive to the Lord your God.

19 “When you lend money or food or anything else to a fellow Israeli, do not charge them interest.

Don't charge a fellow Israelite interest on money, food, or any other kind of loan.

20 You are allowed to charge interest when you lend money to foreigners [who live in your land], but not when you lend money to Israelis. Do this in order that Yahweh our God will bless you in everything that you do in the land that you are about to enter and occupy.

You may charge a foreigner interest, but not an Israelite, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do in the country that you are going in to occupy.

21 “When you vow to give something to Yahweh your God [or to do something for him], do it as soon as you can. Yahweh expects you to do what you promised, and if you do not do it, you will be committing a sin.

If you make a promise to the Lord your God, don't be slow in keeping it, because he will definitely demand that you fulfill it and you will be guilty of sin if you don't.

22 But if you [SYN] do not vow [to do something], that is not sinful.

If you don't make such promises then you won't be guilty of sin.

23 But if you voluntarily promise to do something, you must do it.

But make sure to carry out what you've said to the Lord your God, because it was you who freely chose to make such a promise.

24 “When you walk through someone else’s vineyard, you are allowed to [pick and] eat as many grapes as you want, but you must not [cut some from a vine and carry them away] in a container.

When you walk through your neighbor's vineyard, you can eat as many grapes as you want, but you must not collect any to take with you.

25 When you walk [along a path] in someone else’s field of grain, you are allowed to pluck/pick some of the grain and eat it, but you must not cut any grain with a sickle [and take it with you].”

When you walk through your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick the ears of grain with your hand, but you must not use a sickle to harvest it.