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.

He that is fractured or mutilated in his private parts shall not enter into 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.

[One born] of a harlot shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord.

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 Ammanite and Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord, even until the tenth generation he shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord, even 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 met you not with bread and water by the way, when you went out of Egypt; and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor of Mesopotamia 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.

But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; and the Lord your God changed the curses into blessings, because the Lord your God loved 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 shall not speak peaceably or profitably to them all your days 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.

You shall not abhor an Edomite, because he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were 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.”

If sons be born to them, in the third generation they shall enter into 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.

And if you should go forth to engage with your enemies, then you shall keep you 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 there should be in you a man who is not clean by reason of his issue by night, then he shall go forth out of the camp, and he shall not enter into 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 it shall come to pass toward evening he shall wash his body with water, and when the sun has gone down, he shall go into the camp.

12 “Your soldiers must have a toilet area outside the camp where you can go [when you need to].

And you shall have a place outside of the camp, and you shall go out there,

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 shall have a trowel on your girdle; and it shall come to pass when you would relieve yourself abroad, that you shall dig with it, and shall bring back the earth and cover your nuisance.

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.”

Because the Lord your God walks in your camp to deliver you, and to give up your enemy before your face; and your camp shall be holy, and there shall not appear in you a disgraceful thing, and [so] he shall 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.

You shall not deliver a servant to his master, who [coming] from his master attaches himself to you.

16 Allow them to stay/live among you, in whatever town they choose, and do not mistreat them.

He shall dwell with you, he shall dwell among you where he shall please; you shall not afflict him.

17 “Do not [allow] any Israeli man or woman [to] become a prostitute at the temple.

There shall not be a harlot of the daughters of Israel, and there shall not be a fornicator of the sons of Israel; there shall not be an idolatress of the daughters of Israel, and there shall not be an initiated person of 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.

You shall not bring the hire of a harlot, nor the price of a dog into the house of the Lord your God, for any vow; because even both are an abomination to the Lord your God.

19 “When you lend money or food or anything else to a fellow Israeli, do not charge them interest.

You shall not lend to your brother on usury of silver, or usury of meat, or usury of any thing which you may lend out.

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 lend on usury to a stranger, but to your brother you shall not lend on usury; that the Lord your God may bless you in all your works upon the land, into which you are entering to inherit it.

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.

And if you will vow a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and [otherwise] it shall be sin in you.

22 But if you [SYN] do not vow [to do something], that is not sinful.

But if you should be unwilling to vow, it is not sin in you.

23 But if you voluntarily promise to do something, you must do it.

You shall observe the words that proceed from between your lips; and as you have vowed a gift to the Lord God, [so] shall you do that which you have spoken with your 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.

And if you should go into the corn field of your neighbor, then you may gather the ears with your hands; but you shall not put the sickle to your neighbor's corn.

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].”

And if you should go into the vineyard of your neighbor, you shall eat grapes sufficient to satisfy your desire; but you may not put them into a vessel.