Deuteronomy 23 - The Message (MSG)

23 No eunuch is to enter the congregation of God.

2 No bastard is to enter the congregation of God, even to the tenth generation, nor any of his children.

3-6 No Ammonite or Moabite is to enter the congregation of God, even to the tenth generation, nor any of his children, ever. Those nations didn’t treat you with hospitality on your travels out of Egypt, and on top of that they also hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Mesopotamia to curse you. God, your God, refused to listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing—how God, your God, loves you! Don’t even try to get along with them or do anything for them, ever.

7 But don’t spurn an Edomite; he’s your kin.

And don’t spurn an Egyptian; you were a foreigner in his land.

8 Children born to Edomites and Egyptians may enter the congregation of God in the third generation.

* * *

9-11 When you are camped out, at war with your enemies, be careful to keep yourself from anything ritually defiling. If one of your men has become ritually unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must go outside the camp and stay there until evening when he can wash himself, returning to the camp at sunset.

12-14 Mark out an area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourselves. Along with your weapons have a stick with you. After you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the stick and cover your excrement. God, your God, strolls through your camp; he’s present to deliver you and give you victory over your enemies. Keep your camp holy; don’t permit anything indecent or offensive in God’s eyes.

* * *

15-16 Don’t return a runaway slave to his master; he’s come to you for refuge. Let him live wherever he wishes within the protective gates of your city. Don’t take advantage of him.

17-18 No daughter of Israel is to become a sacred prostitute; and no son of Israel is to become a sacred prostitute. And don’t bring the fee of a sacred whore or the earnings of a priest-pimp to the house of God, your God, to pay for any vow—they are both an abomination to God, your God.

19-20 Don’t charge interest to your kinsmen on any loan: not for money or food or clothing or anything else that could earn interest. You may charge foreigners interest, but you may not charge your brothers interest; that way God, your God, will bless all the work that you take up and the land that you are entering to possess.

21-23 When you make a vow to God, your God, don’t put off keeping it; God, your God, expects you to keep it and if you don’t you’re guilty. But if you don’t make a vow in the first place, there’s no sin. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. Keep the vow you willingly vowed to God, your God. You promised it, so do it.

24-25 When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want until you’re full, but you may not put any in your bucket or bag. And when you walk through the ripe grain of your neighbor, you may pick the heads of grain, but you may not swing your sickle there.

You Might Also Like:

Deuteronomy 23 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

23 `One wounded, bruised, or cut in the member doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; 2 a bastard doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; even a tenth generation of him doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah. 3 `An Ammonite and a Moabite doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; e...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

23 A gelding when his stones be broken, either cut away, and his rod cut off, he shall not enter into the church of the Lord. (When a man is made a gelding, or a eunuch, that is, if his stones, or his ballocks, be broken, or cut off, or if his rod is cut off, he shall no longer be part of the Lord’s...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - World English Bible (WEB)

23 He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly. 2 A person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into Yahweh’s assembly. 3 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into Yahweh...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - The Voice (VOICE)

The next group of laws describes certain people who may not come into the holy place to worship the Lord. This is the defining right of a member in good standing of the community, so the people described here are, in effect, being excluded from community membership itself. The reasons for exclusion ...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Persons Excluded from the Community23 “A man is not to take his father’s wife—he is not to expose his father’s nakedness. 2 “No one with crushed or cut-off genitals is to enter the community of Adonai. 3 No one born of forbidden relations[a] is to enter the community of Adonai—even to the tenth gen...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Those Excluded from the Assembly23 “He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the Lord. 2 “No bastard shall enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord. 3 “No Ammonite o...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Those Excluded from the Assembly23 “He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the Lord. 2 “No bastard shall enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord. 3 “No Ammonite o...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Those Excluded from the Assembly23 No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. 2 Those born of an illicit union shall not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of their descendants shall be admitted...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Those Excluded from the Assembly23 “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall come into the assembly of the Lord.2 “Those born of an illicit union shall not come into the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of their descendants shall come into the assemb...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Regulations concerning Worship23 [a]“If a man’s testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. 2 “If a person is illegitimate by birth, neither he nor his descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. 3 “No Ammonite o...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - New Life Version (NLV)

Those Who Cannot Go into the Meeting of the Lord23 “No man who has his sex part crushed or cut off will go into the meeting of the Lord. 2 No one who was born to parents who were not married will go into the meeting of the Lord. And none of his children will go into the meeting of the Lord, even to...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Those Excluded from the Congregation23 “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall (A)not enter the assembly of the Lord. 2 “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord. 3 (B)...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Exclusion from the assembly23 [a]No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord. 2 No one born of a forbidden marriage[b] nor any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation. 3 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of t...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - New International Version (NIV)

Exclusion From the Assembly23 [a]No one who has been emasculated(A) by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord. 2 No one born of a forbidden marriage[b] nor any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation. 3 No Ammonite(B) or Moabite or an...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Who Can Join in Worship With the Lord’s People?23 No man whose sex organs have been crushed or cut can join in worship with the Lord’s people. 2 No 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. 3 The people...
Read More

Deuteronomy 23 - New English Translation (NET)

Purity in Public Worship23 A man with crushed[a] or severed genitals[b] may not enter the assembly of the Lord.[c] 2 A person of illegitimate birth[d] may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so.[e] 3 No Ammonite or Moabite[f] may enter the assemb...
Read More