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 who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into the LORD’s assembly.

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 person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into the LORD’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into the LORD’s assembly.

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 a Moabite shall not enter into the LORD’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into the LORD’s assembly forever,

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 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.

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

Nevertheless the LORD your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because the LORD your God loved 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.

You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

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.

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.

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 of the third generation who are born to them may enter into the LORD’s assembly.

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 go out and camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil 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 is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens to him by night, then shall he go outside 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 comes, he shall bathe himself in water. When the sun is down, he shall come within the camp.

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

You shall have a place also outside of the camp where you go relieve yourself.

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 shall have a trowel among your weapons. It shall be, when you relieve yourself, you shall dig with it, and shall turn back and cover 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.”

for the LORD your God walks in the middle of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore your camp shall be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from 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.

You shall not deliver to his master a servant who has escaped from his master to you.

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

He shall dwell with you, among you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best. You shall not oppress him.

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

There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be 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.

You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a male prostitute, into the house of the LORD your God for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.

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

You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest.

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 you shall not charge your brother interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in 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 you vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you.

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

But if you refrain from making a vow, it shall be no sin in you.

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

You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to the LORD your God as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do.

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 come into your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat your fill of grapes at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your container.

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 come into your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.