< Deuteronomy 23 >

1 He that is crushed or maimed in his privy parts shall not enter into the assembly 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 assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly 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 a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly 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 out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-naharaim, 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 unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto 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 of the third generation that are born unto them may enter into the assembly of the LORD.
Those who have been born of them, in the third generation, shall enter into the church of the Lord.
9 When thou goest forth in camp against thine enemies, then thou shalt keep thee from every evil thing.
When you have gone out to war against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from everything that is evil.
10 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of that which chanceth 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 bathe himself in water; and when the sun is down, he may come within the camp.
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 without the camp, whither 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 paddle among thy weapons; and it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, 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 thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy; that He see no unseemly 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 unto his master a bondman that is escaped from his master unto thee;
You shall not deliver a servant who has fled to you to his master.
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 liketh him best; thou shalt not wrong 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, neither shall there be 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 a harlot, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow; for even both these are an abomination unto 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 victuals, 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 Unto a foreigner thou mayest lend upon interest; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou puttest thy hand unto, in the land whither thou goest in 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 unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it; for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it will 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 gone out of thy lips thou shalt observe and do; according as thou hast vowed freely unto the LORD thy God, even that 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 eat grapes until thou have enough at thine 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 thy neighbour's standing corn, then thou mayest pluck ears with thy hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn.
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.”

< Deuteronomy 23 >