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.
An eunuch, whose testicles are broken or cut away, or yard cut off, shall not enter into the church 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.
A mamzer, that is to say, one born of a prostitute, shall not enter into the church of the Lord, until 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.
The Ammonite and the Moabite, even after the tenth generation shall not enter into the church of the Lord for ever:
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.
Because they would not meet you with bread and water in the way, when you came out of Egypt: hand because they hired against thee Balaam, the son of Beer, from Mesopotamia in Syria, to curse thee.
5 But Yahweh our God did not pay attention to Balaam; instead, he caused Balaam to bless your ancestors, because Yahweh loved them.
And the Lord thy God would not hear Balaam, and he turned his cursing into thy blessing, because he loved thee.
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.
Thou shalt not make peace with them, neither shalt thou seek their prosperity all the days of thy life for ever.
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.
Thou shalt not abhor the Edomite, because he is thy brother: nor the Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger 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.”
They that are born of them, in the third generation shall enter into the church 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 thou goest out to war against thy enemies, thou shalt keep thyself from every evil 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 there be among you any man, that is defiled in a dream by night, he shall go forth out of the camp.
11 But in the evening of that day, he must bathe himself, and at sunset he is allowed to come back into the camp.
And shall not return, before he be washed with water in the evening: and after sunset he shall return into the camp.
12 “Your soldiers must have a toilet area outside the camp where you can go [when you need to].
Thou shalt have a place without the camp, to which thou mayst go for the necessities of nature,
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].
Carrying a paddle at thy girdle. And when thou sittest down, thou shalt dig round about, and with the earth that is dug up thou shalt cover
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.”
That which thou art eased of: (for the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thy enemies to thee: ) and let thy camp be holy, and let no uncleanness appear therein, lest he go away from thee.
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.
Thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant that is fled to thee.
16 Allow them to stay/live among you, in whatever town they choose, and do not mistreat them.
He shall dwell with thee ill the place that shall please him, and shall rest, in one of thy cities: give him no trouble.
17 “Do not [allow] any Israeli man or woman [to] become a prostitute at the temple.
There shall be no whore among the daughters of Israel, nor whoremonger among the sons of Israel.
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.
Thou shalt not offer the hire of a strumpet, nor the price of a dog, in the house of the Lord thy God, whatsoever it be that thou hast vowed: because both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God.
19 “When you lend money or food or anything else to a fellow Israeli, do not charge them interest.
Thou shalt not lend to thy brother money to usury, nor corn, nor any other thing:
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.
But to the stranger. To thy brother thou shalt lend that which he wanteth, without usury: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all thy works in the land, which thou shalt go in 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.
When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it: because the Lord thy God will require it. And if thou delay, it shall be imputed to thee for a sin.
22 But if you [SYN] do not vow [to do something], that is not sinful.
If thou wilt not promise, thou shalt be without sin.
23 But if you voluntarily promise to do something, you must do it.
But that which is once gone out of thy lips, thou shalt observe, and shalt do as thou hast promised to the Lord thy God, and hast spoken with thy own will and with thy 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.
Going into thy neighbour’s vineyard, thou mayst eat as many grapes as thou pleasest: but must carry none out with thee:
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].”
If thou go into thy friend’s corn, thou mayst break the ears, and rub them in thy hand: but not reap them with a sickle.
