Deuteronomy 23 - Lexham English Bible (LEB)

23 “No man with crushed testicles^[a] or whose male organ is cut off^[b] may come into the assembly of Yahweh.

² An illegitimate child may not come into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants^[c] may come into the assembly of Yahweh.

³ An Ammonite or a Moabite may not come into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants^[d] may come into the assembly of Yahweh forever,^{[e] 4} because^[f] they did not come to meet you with food and with water when you came out of Egypt,^[g] and also because^[h] they^[i] hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor, in Aram Naharaim^[j] to act against you to curse you. ⁵ But Yahweh your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, and Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because Yahweh your God loved you. ⁶ You shall not promote their welfare or their prosperity all your days forever.^[k]

⁷ “You shall not abhor an Edomite, because he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian because you were an alien in his land. ⁸ The children^[l] that are born to them in the third generation may come representing them^[m] in the assembly of Yahweh.

⁹ “If^[n] you go out to encamp against your enemies, then you shall guard against doing anything evil.

¹⁰ “If there is among you a man that is not clean because of a seminal emission during the night,^[o] he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come within the camp. ¹¹ And then^[p] toward the coming^[q] of the evening, he shall bathe with^[r] water, and at the going down^[s] of the sun, he may come to the midst of the camp.

¹² “And there shall be for you a designated place outside the camp; and you shall go there to relieve yourself,^{[t] 13} and a digging tool^[u] shall be included in addition to your other utensils^[v] for yourself; and then^[w] when you relieve yourself^[x] outside the camp you shall dig with it, and then you shall turn, and you shall cover your excrement. ¹⁴ For Yahweh your God is walking about in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to hand your enemies over to you before you,^[y] and so let your camp be holy, so that he shall not see in it anything indecent,^[z] and he shall turn away from going with you.^[aa]

¹⁵ “And you shall not hand over a slave to his master who has escaped and fled to you from his master. ¹⁶ He shall reside with you in your midst in the place that he chooses in one of your towns wherever he pleases;^[ab] you shall not oppress him.

¹⁷ “No woman of Israel^[ac] shall be a temple prostitute, and no man of Israel^[ad] shall be a male shrine prostitute. ¹⁸ You may not bring the hire^[ae] of a prostitute or the earnings of a male prostitute^[af] into the house of Yahweh your God, for any vow offerings, because both^[ag] are a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.

¹⁹ “You shall not charge your brother interest on money,^[ah] interest on^[ai] food, or interest on^[aj] anything that one could lend^[ak] on interest. ²⁰ You may lend on interest to the foreigner, but to your countryman^[al] you may not lend on interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all your undertakings^[am] in the land where you are going,^[an] in order to take possession of it.^[ao]

²¹ “When you make a vow^[ap] to Yahweh your God, you shall not postpone fulfillment of it,^[aq] for certainly Yahweh your God shall require it from you and if postponed you will incur guilt.^{[ar] 22} And if you refrain from vowing,^[as] you shall not incur guilt.^{[at] 23} The utterance of your lips you must perform diligently^[au] just as you have vowed freely to Yahweh your God whatever it was that you promised^[av] with your mouth.

²⁴ “When^[aw] you come into the vineyard of your neighbor, then you may eat grapes as you please^[ax] and until you are full,^[ay] but you shall not put any into your container.

²⁵ “When^[az] you come into the standing grain of your neighbor, then you may pluck ears with your hand, but you may not swing^[ba] a sickle among the standing grain of your neighbor.”

Footnotes

1. Deuteronomy 23:1 Literally “bruised of crushing”
2. Deuteronomy 23:1 Literally “cut off of male organ”
3. Deuteronomy 23:2 Literally “to him”
4. Deuteronomy 23:3 Literally “to him”
5. Deuteronomy 23:3 Literally “until eternity”
6. Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “because of the event when”
7. Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “at your going out of Egypt”
8. Deuteronomy 23:4 Literally “because of the event when”
9. Deuteronomy 23:4 Hebrew “he,” but with plural meaning
10. Deuteronomy 23:4 Or “Mesopotamia” = “between the rivers”
11. Deuteronomy 23:6 Literally “until eternity”
12. Deuteronomy 23:8 Or “sons”
13. Deuteronomy 23:8 Literally “for them” or possibly “become members of”
14. Deuteronomy 23:9 Or “when”
15. Deuteronomy 23:10 Literally “of the night”
16. Deuteronomy 23:11 Literally “And it will happen/come about that”
17. Deuteronomy 23:11 Literally “turning”
18. Deuteronomy 23:11 Hebrew “in” but this is instrumental use of this preposition
19. Deuteronomy 23:11 The verb can mean “coming/going” and here it means “going”
20. Deuteronomy 23:12 Literally “and you shall go out there, outside to relieve yourself”
21. Deuteronomy 23:13 Or “spade”
22. Deuteronomy 23:13 Hebrew “utensil”
23. Deuteronomy 23:13 Literally “and it will happen”
24. Deuteronomy 23:13 Literally “at your sitting”
25. Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “to give your enemies to the face of you”
26. Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “nakedness of a thing”
27. Deuteronomy 23:14 Literally “from behind/after you”
28. Deuteronomy 23:16 Literally “in your gates good for him”
29. Deuteronomy 23:17 Literally “from the daughters of Israel”
30. Deuteronomy 23:17 Literally “from the sons of Israel”
31. Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “gift”
32. Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “the earnings of a dog”
33. Deuteronomy 23:18 Literally “both, the two of them”
34. Deuteronomy 23:19 Literally “You shall not lend on interest to your brother, interest of money”
35. Deuteronomy 23:19 Hebrew “of”
36. Deuteronomy 23:19 Hebrew “of”
37. Deuteronomy 23:19 Or “can lend”
38. Deuteronomy 23:20 Or “brother”
39. Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “in all the sendings out of your hand”
40. Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “the land that you are going there”
41. Deuteronomy 23:20 Literally “to take possession”
42. Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “When/if you vow a vow”
43. Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “to fulfill it”
44. Deuteronomy 23:21 Literally “it shall become against you as sin”
45. Deuteronomy 23:22 Literally “if you refrain to make a vow”
46. Deuteronomy 23:22 Literally “it shall not become against you as sin”
47. Deuteronomy 23:23 Literally “you must observe and you shall do”
48. Deuteronomy 23:23 Or “spoke”
49. Deuteronomy 23:24 Or “If”
50. Deuteronomy 23:24 Literally “according to your desire”
51. Deuteronomy 23:24 Literally “to your satiation”
52. Deuteronomy 23:25 Or “If”
53. Deuteronomy 23:25 Literally “wave”