Deuteronomy 23

Persons Excluded from the Assembly

1“1No one who is 2emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord. 2No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the Lord. 33No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord, 44because they did not meet you with 5food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you 6Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of 7Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5Nevertheless, the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God 8turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God 9loves you. 610You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.

7“You shall not detest an Edomite, for 11he is your brother; you shall not detest an Egyptian, 12because you were an alien in his land. 8The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.

9“When you go out as 13an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.

10“14If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not 15reenter the camp. 11But it shall be when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may 16reenter the camp.

12“You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there, 13and you shall have a 17spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn 18to cover up your excrement. 14Since 19the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to 20defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be 21holy; and He must not see 22anything indecent among you 23or He will turn away from you.

15“24You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has 25escaped from his master to you. 16He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your 26towns where it pleases him; 27you shall not mistreat him.

17“28None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, 29nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute. 18You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a 3031dog into the house of the Lord your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

19“32You shall not charge interest to your 33countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 2034You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your 35countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that 36the Lord your God may bless you in all 37that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to 38possess.

21“39When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, 40and the Lord your God will surely require it of you. 22However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. 23You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have 41promised.

24“When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes 42until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your 43basket.

25“44When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.