Deuteronomy 23

1 He who is wounded in the testicles, or has his private part cut off, shall not enter into the assembly of Jehovah.

“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.

2 A bastard shall not enter into the assembly of Jehovah, even to the tenth generation none of his shall enter into the assembly of Jehovah.

“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.

3 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Jehovah, even to the tenth generation none belonging to them shall enter into the assembly of Jehovah forever,

“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.

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

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.

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

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

6 Thou shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days forever.

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.

7 Thou shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother. Thou shall not abhor an Egyptian, because thou were a sojourner in his land.

“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.

8 The sons of the third generation who are born to them shall enter into the assembly of Jehovah.

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.”

9 When the army goes forth against thine enemies, then thou shall keep thee from every evil thing.

“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.

10 If there be among you any man, who is not clean by reason of an accident by night, then he shall go abroad out of the camp. He shall not come inside the camp.

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.

11 But it shall be, when evening comes on, he shall bathe himself in water, and when the sun is down, he shall come inside the camp.

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

12 Thou shall have a place also outside the camp, where thou shall go forth abroad.

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

13 And thou shall have a paddle among thy weapons, and it shall be, when thou sit down abroad, thou shall dig with it, and shall turn back and cover that which comes from thee.

[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].

14 For Jehovah thy God walks in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee. Therefore thy camp shall be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.

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.”

15 Thou shall not deliver to his master a servant who is escaped from his master to thee.

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

16 He shall dwell with thee, in the midst of thee, in the place which he shall choose within one of thy gates, where it pleases him best. Thou shall not oppress him.

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

17 There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

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

18 Thou shall not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a dog, into the house of Jehovah thy God for any vow, for even both these are an abomination to Jehovah thy God.

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.

19 Thou shall not lend upon interest to thy brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent upon interest.

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

20 To a foreigner thou may lend upon interest, but to thy brother thou shall not lend upon interest, that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all that thou put thy hand to, in the land where thou go in to possess it.

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.

21 When thou shall vow a vow to Jehovah thy God, thou shall not be slack to pay it. For Jehovah thy God will surely require it of thee, and it would be sin in thee.

“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.

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

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

23 That which has gone out of thy lips thou shall observe and do, according as thou have vowed to Jehovah thy God, a freewill offering, which thou have promised with thy mouth.

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

24 When thou come into thy neighbor's vineyard, then thou may eat thy fill of grapes at thine own pleasure, but thou shall not put any in thy vessel.

“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.

25 When thou come into thy neighbor's standing grain, then thou may pluck the ears with thy hand, but thou shall not move a sickle to thy neighbor's standing grain.

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].”