Deuteronomy 23
1 Neither he that hath been mutilated by crushing, nor he that hath had his privy member cut off, shall enter into the convocation of Yahweh.
“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 convocation of Yahweh, —even to the tenth generation, shall none of his enter into the convocation of Yahweh.
“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 Neither an Ammonite nor a Moabite shall enter into the convocation of Yahweh, —even to the tenth generation, shall none that belong to them enter into the convocation of Yahweh, unto times age-abiding:
“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 water, in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt, —but hired against thee Balaam 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, Yahweh thy God consented not to hearken unto Balaam, but Yahweh thy God turned, for thee, the curse into a blessing, —because Yahweh 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 nor their welfare, —all thy days, unto times age-abiding.
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 thy brother, he is, —thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, for a sojourner, becamest thou 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 who are born to them, of the third generation, may enter unto them in the convocation of Yahweh.
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 thine enemies, then shalt thou beware of everything foul.
“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 When there is in thy midst a man who is not clean through a mischance of the night, then shall he go forth unto the outside of the camp, he shall not come into the midst of 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 the evening cometh on, he shall bathe himself in water, —and at the going in of the sun, he shall 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 aside, shalt thou have, without the camp, —whither thou canst go forth abroad;
“Your soldiers must have a toilet area outside the camp where you can go [when you need to].
13 and a blade, shalt thou have upon thy staff, —so shall it be, that when thou wouldest sit down outside, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which hath passed 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, Yahweh thy God, walketh to and fro in the midst of thy camp, to rescue thee, and to deliver up thine enemies before thee, so shall thy camps be holy, —and he shall see in thee no shameful thing, that he should turn away from following 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 up a slave unto his lord, —one who maketh his escape unto thee, from his lord:
“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 remain in thy midst, in the place which he shall choose in any of thy gates where it seemeth good 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 be no female devotee of the daughters of Israel, —neither shall there be, a male devotee, 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 wages of an unchaste woman, or the hire of a dog, into the house of Yahweh thy God for any vow, —for, an abomination unto Yahweh thy God, are they both.
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 lend on interest to thy brother, interest of silver, interest of food, —interest of any thing that can be lent on interest:
“When you lend money or food or anything else to a fellow Israeli, do not charge them interest.
20 to a foreigner, thou mayest lend on interest, but to thy brother, shalt thou not lend on interest, —that Yahweh thy God may bless thee, in everything where-unto thou puttest thy hand, upon the land which thou art entering to possess.
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 shalt vow a vow unto Yahweh thy God, thou shalt not delay to make it good, —for Yahweh thy God would, require, it of thee, and it should be in thee sin.
“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 refrain from vowing, it shall not be in thee sin.
But if you [SYN] do not vow [to do something], that is not sinful.
23 That which goeth forth out of thy lips, thou must observe and do, —according as thou didst vow unto Yahweh thy God the free-will, offering of which thou didst speak with thy mouth.
But if you voluntarily promise to do something, you must do it.
24 When thou enterest into the vineyard of thy neighbour, then mayest thou eat grapes at thy pleasure to thy fill, -but into thy vessel, shalt thou put none.
“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 enterest the standing corn of thy neighbour, thou mayest pluck off ears with thy hand, —but a sickle, shalt thou not wield against the standing corn of thy neighbour.
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].”
