Deuteronomy 23

Those Who May Not Enter the Assembly

“^aNo one who is ¹emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of Yahweh. 2 No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation, none of his seed shall enter the assembly of Yahweh. 3 ^aNo Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation, none of their seed shall ever enter the assembly of Yahweh, 4 ^abecause they did not meet you with ¹food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you ^bBalaam the son of Beor from Pethor of ²Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless, Yahweh your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but Yahweh your God ^aturned the curse into a blessing for you because Yahweh your God ^bloves you. 6 ^aYou shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.
7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for ^ahe is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian, ^bfor you were a sojourner in his land. 8 The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of Yahweh.
9 “When you go out as ¹an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.
10 “^aIf there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not ¹reenter the camp. 11 But it shall be when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may ¹reenter the camp.
12 “You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there, 13 and you shall have a ¹spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn ²to cover up your excrement. 14 Since ^aYahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give your enemies over to you, therefore your camp must be ^bholy; and He must not see ¹anything indecent among you, ²or He will turn away from you.
15 “^aYou shall not hand over to his master a slave who has ¹escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your gates of the towns where it pleases him; ^ayou shall not mistreat him.
17 “^aNone of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, ^bnor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute. 18 You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a ¹^adog into the house of Yahweh your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God.
19 “^aYou shall not charge interest to your brother: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 20 ^aYou may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, so that ^bYahweh your God may bless you in all ¹that you send forth your hand to do in the land which you are about to enter to ²possess.
21 “^aWhen you make a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it will be a sin in you. 22 However, if you refrain from vowing, it will not be a sin in you. 23 You shall be careful and do what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to Yahweh your God that which you spoke with your mouth.
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes ¹until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your ²basket.
25 “^aWhen 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.

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