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.

He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of Yhwh.

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.

A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of Yhwh; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of Yhwh.

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.

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of Yhwh; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of Yhwh for ever:

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.

Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

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

Nevertheless Yhwh thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; But Yhwh thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because Yhwh thy God loved thee.

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.

Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.

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.

Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.

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 children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of Yhwh in their third generation.

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 the army goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing.

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.

If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:

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

But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.

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

Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:

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].

And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:

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.”

For Yhwh thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.

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.

Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:

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

He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.

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

There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

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.

Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of Yhwh thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto Yhwh thy God.

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

Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:

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.

Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that Yhwh thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

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.

When thou shalt vow a vow unto Yhwh thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for Yhwh thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.

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

But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.

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

That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto Yhwh thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.

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 thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.

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 thou comest into the standing grain of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the heads with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour’s standing grain.