1No man whose sex organs have been crushed or cut can join in worship with the LORD’s people.2No one born to an unmarried woman can join in worship with the LORD’s people. That also applies to the person’s children for all time to come.3The people of Ammon and Moab can’t join in worship with the LORD’s people. That also applies to their children after them for all time to come.4The Ammonites and Moabites didn’t come to meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt. They even hired Balaam from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to put a curse on you. Balaam was the son of Beor.5The LORD your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam. Instead, he turned the curse into a blessing for you. He did it because he loves you.6So don’t make a peace treaty with the Ammonites and Moabites as long as you live.7Don’t hate the people of Edom. They are your relatives. Don’t hate the people of Egypt. After all, you lived as outsiders in their country.8The great-grandchildren of the Edomites and Egyptians can join in worship with the LORD’s people.
Keep the camp of the soldiers pure and ‘clean’
9There will be times when you are at war with your enemies. And your soldiers will be in camp. Then keep away from anything that isn’t pure and ‘clean’.10Suppose semen flows from the body of one of your soldiers during the night. Then that will make him ‘unclean’. He must go outside the camp and stay there.11But as evening approaches, he must wash himself. When the sun goes down, he can return to the camp.12Choose a place outside the camp where you can go to the toilet.13Keep a shovel among your tools. When you go to the toilet, dig a hole. Then cover up your waste.14The LORD your God walks around in your camp. He’s there to keep you safe. He’s also there to hand your enemies over to you. So your camp must be holy. Then he won’t see anything among you that is shameful. He won’t turn away from you.
Several other laws
15If a slave comes to you for safety, don’t hand them over to their master.16Let them live among you anywhere they want to. Let them live in any town they choose. Don’t treat them badly.17A man or woman in Israel must not become a temple prostitute.18The LORD your God hates the money that men and women get for being prostitutes. So don’t take that money into the house of the LORD to pay what you promised to give.19Don’t charge your own people any interest. Don’t charge them when they borrow money, food or anything else.20You can charge interest to people from another country. But don’t charge your own people. Then the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do. He will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.21Don’t put off giving to the LORD your God everything you promise him. He will certainly require it from you. And you will be guilty of committing a sin.22But if you don’t make a promise, you won’t be guilty.23Make sure you do what you promised to do. With your own mouth you made the promise to the LORD your God. No one forced you to do it.24When you enter your neighbour’s vineyard, you can eat all the grapes you want. But don’t put any of them in your basket.25When you enter your neighbour’s field, you can pick ears of corn. But don’t cut down their standing corn.
Deuteronomy 23
English Standard Version
Those Excluded from the Assembly
1“No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.2“No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord. (Zec 9:6)3“No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, (Ne 13:1)4because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. (Nu 22:5; De 2:29; Ac 7:2; 2Pe 2:15)5But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you. (Nu 23:11; Nu 24:10)6You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever. (Ezr 9:12)7“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land. (Ge 25:24; Ex 22:21; Ex 23:9; Le 19:34; Nu 20:14; De 10:19; Ob 1:10; Ob 1:12)8Children born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord.
Uncleanness in the Camp
9“When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.10“If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come inside the camp, (Le 15:16)11but when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water, and as the sun sets, he may come inside the camp. (Le 15:5)12“You shall have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out to it.13And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement.14Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you. (Le 26:12)
Miscellaneous Laws
15“You shall not give up to his master a slave[1] who has escaped from his master to you. (1Sa 30:15)16He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him.17“None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. (Le 19:29; 1Ki 14:24; 1Ki 15:12; 1Ki 22:46; 2Ki 23:7)18You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog[2] into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.19“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. (Ex 22:25; Ne 5:10)20You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. (De 15:3; De 15:10)21“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. (Nu 30:2; Ps 66:13; Ps 76:11)22But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin.23You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.24“If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag.25If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain. (Mt 12:1; Mr 2:23; Lu 6:1)