Deuteronomy 23
1 He that is wounded in the testicles, or hath his privy member cut, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord.
“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 One born from prohibited connections shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even the tenth generation of him shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord.
“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 and a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even the tenth generation of him shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, for ever;
“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 For the reason, that they met you not with bread and with water on the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because he hired against thee Bil'am the son of Beor of Pethor in 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 But the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Bil'am; and the Lord thy God changed unto thee the curse into a blessing, because the Lord 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 shalt not seek their peace and their welfare all thy days, for ever.
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 shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother; thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger 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 children that are born unto them in the third generation, may enter of them into the congregation of the Lord.
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 thou goest forth into camp against thy enemies, then keep thyself 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 thee any man, that is not clean by reason of an occurrence by night; then shall he go abroad to without the camp, he shall not come within 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, that toward evening he shall bathe himself in water; and when the sun goeth down, he may come into the midst of 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 And a place shalt thou have without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:
“Your soldiers must have a toilet area outside the camp where you can go [when you need to].
13 And a spade shalt thou have with thy weapons: and it shall be, when thou sittest abroad, that thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt afterward cover that which cometh 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 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 see no unseemly 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 shalt not deliver unto his master the servant who may escape unto thee from his master;
“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 With thee shall he dwell, in the midst of thee, in the place which he may choose in any one of thy gates, where it seemeth best to him: thou shalt not oppress him.
Allow them to stay/live among you, in whatever town they choose, and do not mistreat them.
17 There shall not be a prostitute of the daughters of Israel, and there shall not 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 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 both of these are equally an abomination unto the Lord 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 shalt not take interest from thy brother, interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest:
“When you lend money or food or anything else to a fellow Israeli, do not charge them interest.
20 From an alien thou mayest take interest; but from thy brother thou shalt not take interest; in order that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the acquisition of thy hand, in the land whither thou goest 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 makest a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it; for the Lord 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 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 What is gone out of thy lips shalt thou keep and perform, as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God voluntarily, as thou hast spoken with thy mouth.
But if you voluntarily promise to do something, you must do it.
24 When thou comest into thy neighbor's vineyard, thou mayest eat grapes at thy own pleasure, till thou have enough; but into thy vessel shalt thou not put any.
“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 comest into the standing corn of thy neighbor, thou mayest pluck ears with thy hand; but a sickle shall thou not move over thy neighbor's standing corn.
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].”
