Persons Excluded from the Assembly

1 “aNo one who is 1emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

2 “No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

3 “aNo Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord,

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, the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God aturned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God bloves you.

6 “aYou shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.

7 “You shall not detest an Edomite, for ahe is your brother; you shall not detest an Egyptian, bbecause you were an alien in his land.

8 “The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.

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 athe Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to 1defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be bholy; and He must not see 2anything indecent among you 3or 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 1towns 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 1adog into the house of the Lord your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

19 “aYou shall not charge interest to your 1countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest.

20 “aYou may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your 1countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that bthe Lord your God may bless you in all 2that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to 3possess.

21 “aWhen you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, 1and the Lord your God will surely require it of you.

22 “However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you.

23 “You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have 1promised.

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.

Chapter 24

Law of Divorce

1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens 1that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some aindecency in her, and bhe writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,

2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife,

3 and if the latter husband 1turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife,

4 then her aformer husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.

5 “aWhen a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall bgive happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

Sundry Laws

6 “No one shall take a handmill or an upper millstone in pledge, for he would be taking a life in pledge.

7 “aIf a man is 1caught kidnapping any of his 2countrymen of the sons of Israel, and he deals with him violently or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from among you.

8 “aBe careful against 1an infection of leprosy, that you diligently observe and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you; as I have commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.

9 “Remember what the Lord your God did ato Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt.

10 “aWhen you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not enter his house to take his pledge.

11 “You shall remain outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you.

12 “If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge.

13 “aWhen the sun goes down you shall surely return the pledge to him, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and bit will be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.

14 “aYou shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your 1countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your 2towns.

15 “aYou shall give him his wages on his day 1before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his 2heart on it; so that bhe will not cry against you to the Lord and it become sin in you.

16 “aFathers shall not be put to death 1for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death 1for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.

17 “aYou shall not pervert the justice 1due an alien or 2an orphan, nor btake a widow’s garment in pledge.

18 “But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.

19 “aWhen you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be bfor the alien, for the 1orphan, and for the widow, in order that the Lord your God cmay bless you in all the work of your hands.

20 “aWhen you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs 1again; it shall be bfor the alien, for the 2orphan, and for the widow.

21 “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not 1go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the 2orphan, and for the widow.

22 “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.