Deuteronomy 23

Persons Excluded from the Assembly

1“1No one who is 2emasculated or has his male organ cut off may enter the assembly of the Lord. 2No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, may enter the assembly of the Lord. 33No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may 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 unwilling 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 loathe an 11Edomite, for 12he is your brother; you shall not loathe an Egyptian, 13because you were a stranger 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 14an army against your enemies, you shall be on guard against every evil thing.

10“15If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not 16reenter the camp. 11But when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may 17reenter the camp.

12“You shall also have a place allocated outside the camp, so that you may go out there to relieve yourself, 13and you shall have a 18spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn and cover up your excrement. 14Since 19the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to save you and to 20defeat your enemies before you, your camp must be 21holy; so 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 that he chooses 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 earnings of a prostitute or the money for a 3031dog into the house of the Lord your God as payment for any vowed offering, because both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

19“32You are not to charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned on interest. 2033You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that 34the Lord your God may bless you in all 35that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to 36possess.

21“37When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly require it of you, and it will be a sin 38for you. 22However, if you refrain from making vows, it will not be a sin 39for you. 23You shall be careful and perform what goes out of your lips, since in fact you have vowed a 40voluntary offering to the Lord your God, whatever you have 41promised.

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

25“44When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you are not to 45use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.