Deuteronomy 23
1 “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.
No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD.
2 “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.
No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the LORD, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.
3 “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.
No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.
4 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.
For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
5 But Yahweh our God did not pay attention to Balaam; instead, he caused Balaam to bless your ancestors, because Yahweh loved them.
Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
6 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.
You are not to seek peace or prosperity from them as long as you live.
7 “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.
Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
8 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.”
The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.
9 “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.
When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every wicked thing.
10 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.
If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must leave the camp and stay outside.
11 But in the evening of that day, he must bathe himself, and at sunset he is allowed to come back into the camp.
When evening approaches, he must wash with water, and when the sun sets he may return to the camp.
12 “Your soldiers must have a toilet area outside the camp where you can go [when you need to].
You must have a place outside the camp to go and relieve yourself.
13 [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].
And you must have a digging tool in your equipment so that when you relieve yourself you can dig a hole and cover up your excrement.
14 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.”
For the LORD your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, lest He see anything unclean among you and turn away from you.
15 “If slaves who escape from their masters come to you [and request you to protect them], do not send them back to their masters.
Do not return a slave to his master if he has taken refuge with you.
16 Allow them to stay/live among you, in whatever town they choose, and do not mistreat them.
Let him live among you wherever he chooses, in the town of his pleasing. Do not oppress him.
17 “Do not [allow] any Israeli man or woman [to] become a prostitute at the temple.
No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute.
18 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.
You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.
19 “When you lend money or food or anything else to a fellow Israeli, do not charge them interest.
Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.
20 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.
You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess.
21 “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.
If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
22 But if you [SYN] do not vow [to do something], that is not sinful.
But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin.
23 But if you voluntarily promise to do something, you must do it.
Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth.
24 “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.
When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not put any in your basket.
25 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].”
When you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.
