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 one wounded, bruised, or cut in the genitals enters into the assembly of YHWH;
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 bastard does not enter into the assembly of YHWH; even a tenth generation of him does not enter into the assembly of YHWH.
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.
An Ammonite and a Moabite do not enter into the assembly of YHWH; even a tenth generation of them do not enter into the assembly of YHWH—for all time,
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 that they have not come before you with bread and with water in the way, in your coming out from Egypt, and because he has hired against you Balaam son of Beor, of Pethor of Aram-Naharaim, to revile you;
5 But Yahweh our God did not pay attention to Balaam; instead, he caused Balaam to bless your ancestors, because Yahweh loved them.
and your God YHWH has not been willing to listen to Balaam, and your God YHWH turns the reviling to a blessing for you, because your God YHWH has 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 do not seek their peace and their good all your days—for all time.
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 do not detest an Edomite, for he [is] your brother; you do not detest an Egyptian, for you have been a sojourner 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.”
sons who are begotten of them, a third generation of them, enter into the assembly of YHWH.
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 a camp goes out against your enemies, then you have kept 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.
When there is a man who is not clean in you, from an accident at night, then he has gone out to the outside of the camp; he does not come into the midst 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 it has been, at the turning of the evening, he bathes with water, and at the going in of the sun he comes into the midst of the camp.
12 “Your soldiers must have a toilet area outside the camp where you can go [when you need to].
And you have a station at the outside of the camp, and you have gone out there outside;
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 have a peg on your staff, and it has been, in your sitting outside, that you have dug with it, and turned back, and covered your filth.
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 your God YHWH is walking up and down in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give your enemies before you, and your camp has been holy, and He does not see the nakedness of anything in you, and has turned back from after 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 do not shut up a servant to his lord, who escapes to you from his lord;
16 Allow them to stay/live among you, in whatever town they choose, and do not mistreat them.
he dwells with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it is pleasing to him; you do not oppress him.
17 “Do not [allow] any Israeli man or woman [to] become a prostitute at the temple.
There is not a whore among the daughters of Israel, nor is there a 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.
you do not bring the wage of a whore or the price of a dog into the house of your God YHWH for any vow; for even both of them [are] an abomination [to] your God YHWH.
19 “When you lend money or food or anything else to a fellow Israeli, do not charge them interest.
You do not lend in usury to your brother—usury of money, usury of food, usury of anything which is lent on usury.
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 in usury to a stranger, but you do not lend in usury to your brother, so that your God YHWH blesses you in every putting forth of your hand on the land to where you go in to possess 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.
When you vow a vow to your God YHWH, you do not delay to complete it; for your God YHWH certainly requires it from you, lest it has been sin in you.
22 But if you [SYN] do not vow [to do something], that is not sinful.
And when you refrain to vow, it is not sin in you.
23 But if you voluntarily promise to do something, you must do it.
You keep and have done the utterance of your lips, as you have vowed to your God YHWH, a free-will offering 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.
When you come into the vineyard of your neighbor, then you have eaten grapes according to your desire, your sufficiency, but you do not put [any] into your vessel.
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 come in among the standing grain of your neighbor, then you have plucked the ears with your hand, but you do not wave a sickle over the standing grain of your neighbor.”
