Deuteronomy 23

1 He that is wounded, or cut off in his secrets, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.

“A eunuch, one whose testicles have been debilitated or cut off, or whose penis has been cut off, shall not enter into the church of the Lord.

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

The offspring of a harlot, that is, one born of a prostitute, shall not enter into the church of the Lord, until the tenth generation.

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

The Ammonite and the Moabite, even after the tenth generation, shall not enter into the church of the Lord forever,

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

because they were not willing to meet you with bread and water along the way, when you had departed from Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam, the son of Beor, from Mesopotamia in Syria, in order to curse you.

5 Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken to Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing to thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee.

But the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, and he turned his cursing into your blessing, because he loves you.

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

You shall not make peace with them, nor shall you seek their prosperity, throughout all the days of your life forever.

7 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.

You shall not abhor anyone from Idumea, for he is your brother, nor the Egyptian, for you were a new arrival in his land.

8 The children that are begotten by them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.

Those who have been born of them, in the third generation, shall enter into the church of the Lord.

9 When the host goeth forth against thy enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing.

When you have gone out to war against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from everything that is evil.

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

If there is a man among you who has been defiled by a dream in the night, he shall depart from the camp.

11 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.

And he shall not return before the evening, after he has washed with water, and then, after the sun sets, he shall return to the camp.

12 Thou shalt have a place also outside the camp, where thou shalt go forth abroad:

You shall have a place beyond the camp to which you may go for the necessities of nature,

13 And thou shalt have a shovel among thy weapons; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig with it, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:

carrying a small shovel at your belt. And when you would sit down, you shall dig around, and then, with the soil that was dug up, you shall cover

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

that from which you were relieved. For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, in order to rescue you, and to deliver your enemies to you. And so, let your camp be holy, and let nothing filthy appear within it, lest he abandon you.

15 Thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant who hath escaped from his master to thee:

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

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

He shall live with you in a place that pleases him, and he shall rest in one of your cities. You shall not grieve him.

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

There shall be no prostitutes among the daughters of Israel, nor anyone among the sons of Israel who visits a prostitute.

18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of an harlot, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination to the LORD thy God.

You shall not offer money from a prostitute, nor the price of a dog, in the house of the Lord your God, no matter what you may have vowed. For both of these are an abomination with the Lord your God.

19 Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother; interest of money, interest of food, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest:

You shall not lend money, or grain, or anything else at all, to your brother at interest,

20 To a stranger thou mayest lend upon interest; but to thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thy hand to in the land where thou goest to possess it.

but only to a foreigner. For you shall lend to your brother whatever he needs without interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your works in the land, which you shall enter so as to possess it.

21 When thou shalt vow a vow to the LORD thy God, thou shalt not defer to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.

When you have made a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not be late in paying it. For the Lord your God demands it. And if you delay, it shall be imputed to you as a sin.

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

If you are not willing to make a promise, then it shall be without sin.

23 That which is uttered by thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed to the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.

But as soon as it has departed from your lips, you shall observe and do just as you have promised to the Lord your God and just as you have spoken by your own free will and with your own mouth.

24 When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest satisfy thy appetite with grapes at thy own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.

Upon entering your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you please. But you may not carry any out with you.

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

If you enter into your friend’s grain field, you may break off the ears, and rub them in your hand, but you may not reap them with a sickle.”