Deuteronomy 23–26

Exclusion from the ’s People

23“No man who has been castrated or whose penis has been cut off may be included among the Lord’s people.

²“No one born out of wedlock or any descendant of such a person, even in the tenth generation, may be included among the Lord’s people.

^3*“No Ammonite or Moabite—or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation—may be included among the Lord’s people. ^4*They refused to provide you with food and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor, from the city of Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you. ^5*But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead he turned the curse into a blessing, because he loved you. ⁶As long as you are a nation, never do anything to help these nations or to make them prosperous.

⁷“Do not despise the Edomites; they are your relatives. And do not despise the Egyptians; you once lived in their land. ⁸From the third generation onward their descendants may be included among the Lord’s people.

Keeping the Military Camp Clean

⁹“When you are in camp in time of war, you are to avoid anything that would make you ritually unclean. ¹⁰If a man becomes unclean because he has had a wet dream during the night, he is to go outside the camp and stay there. ¹¹Towards evening he is to wash himself, and at sunset he may come back into camp.

¹²“You are to have a place outside the camp where you can go when you need to relieve yourselves. ¹³Carry a stick as part of your equipment, so that when you have a bowel movement you can dig a hole and cover it up. ¹⁴Keep your camp ritually clean, because the Lord your God is with you in your camp to protect you and to give you victory over your enemies. Do not do anything indecent that would cause the Lord to turn his back on you.

Various Laws

¹⁵“If a slave runs away from his or her owner and comes to you for protection, do not send them back. ¹⁶They may live in any of your towns that they choose, and you are not to treat them harshly.

^17*“No Israelite, man or woman, is to become a temple prostitute. ¹⁸Also, no money earned in this way may be brought into the house of the Lord your God in fulfilment of a vow. The Lord hates temple prostitutes.

^19*“When you lend money or food or anything else to a fellow-Israelite, do not charge him interest. ^20*You may charge interest on what you lend to a foreigner, but not on what you lend to a fellow-Israelite. Obey this rule, and the Lord your God will bless everything you do in the land that you are going to occupy.

^21*“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not put off doing what you promised; the Lord will hold you to your vow, and it is a sin not to keep it. ²²It is no sin not to make a vow to the Lord, ²³but if you make one voluntarily, be sure that you keep it.

²⁴“When you walk along a path in someone else’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but you must not carry any away in a container. ²⁵When you walk along a path in someone else’s cornfield, you may eat all the corn you can pull off with your hands, but you must not cut any corn with a sickle.

Divorce and Remarriage

24^*“Suppose a man marries a woman and later decides that he doesn’t want her, because he finds something about her that he doesn’t like.^u So he writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. ²Then suppose she marries another man, ³and he also decides that he doesn’t want her, so he also writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. Or suppose her second husband dies. ⁴In either case, her first husband is not to marry her again; he is to consider her defiled. If he married her again, it would be offensive to the Lord. You are not to commit such a terrible sin in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Various Laws

⁵“When a man is newly married, he is not to be drafted into military service or any other public duty; he is to be excused from duty for one year, so that he can stay at home and make his wife happy.^v

⁶“When you lend someone something, you are not to take as security his millstones used for grinding his corn. This would take away the family’s means of preparing food to keep alive.

^7*“Whoever kidnaps a fellow-Israelite and takes him or her as a slave or sells them into slavery is to be put to death. In this way you will get rid of this evil.

^8*“When you are suffering from a dreaded skin disease, be sure to do exactly what the levitical priests tell you; follow the instructions that I have given them. ^9*Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt.

^10*“When you lend a neighbour something, do not go into his house to get the garment he is going to give you as security; ^11*wait outside and let him bring it to you himself. ^12*If he is poor, do not keep it overnight; ^13*return it to him each evening, so that he can have it to sleep in. Then he will be grateful, and the Lord your God will be pleased with you.

^14*“Do not cheat poor and needy hired servants, whether fellow-Israelites or foreigners living in one of your towns. ^15*Each day before sunset pay them for that day’s work; they need the money and have counted on getting it. If you do not pay them, they will cry out against you to the Lord, and you will be guilty of sin.

^16*“Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for crimes they themselves have committed.

^17*“Do not deprive foreigners and orphans of their rights; and do not take a widow’s garment as security for a loan. ^18*Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God set you free; that is why I have given you this command.

^19*“When you gather your crops and fail to bring in some of the corn that you have cut, do not go back for it; it is to be left for the foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. ^20*When you have picked your olives once, do not go back and get those that are left; they are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. ^21*When you have gathered your grapes once, do not go back over the vines a second time; the grapes that are left are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. ²²Never forget that you were slaves in Egypt; that is why I have given you this command.

25“Suppose two Israelites go to court to settle a dispute, and one is declared innocent and the other guilty. ²If the guilty person is sentenced to be beaten, the judge is to make him lie face downwards and have him whipped. The number of lashes will depend on the crime he has committed. ^3*He may be given as many as forty lashes, but no more; more than that would humiliate him publicly.

^4*“Do not muzzle an ox when you are using it to thresh corn.

Duty to a Dead Brother

^5*“If two brothers live on the same property and one of them dies, leaving no son, then his widow is not to be married to someone outside the family; it is the duty of the dead man’s brother to marry her. ^6*The first son that they have will be considered the son of the dead man, so that his family line will continue in Israel. ^7*But if the dead man’s brother does not want to marry her, she is to go before the town leaders and say, ‘My husband’s brother will not do his duty; he refuses to give his brother a descendant among the people of Israel.’ ^8*Then the town leaders are to summon him and speak to him. If he still refuses to marry her, ^9*his brother’s widow is to go up to him in the presence of the town leaders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face, and say, ‘This is what happens to the man who refuses to give his brother a descendant.’ ^10*His family will be known in Israel as ‘the family of the man who had his sandal pulled off.’

Other Laws

¹¹“If two men are having a fight and the wife of one tries to help her husband by grabbing hold of the other man’s genitals, ¹²show her no mercy; cut off her hand.

^13–14*“Do not cheat when you use weights and measures. ^15*Use true and honest weights and measures, so that you may live a long time in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ^16*The Lord hates people who cheat.

The Command to Kill the Amalekites

^17*“Remember what the Amalekites did to you as you were coming from Egypt. ^18*They had no fear of God, and so they attacked you from the rear when you were tired and exhausted, and killed all who were straggling behind. ^19*So then, when the Lord your God has given you the land and made you safe from all your enemies who live around you, be sure to kill all the Amalekites, so that no one will remember them any longer. Do not forget!

Harvest Offerings

26“After you have occupied the land that the Lord your God is giving you and have settled there, ^2*each of you must place in a basket the first part of each crop that you harvest and you must take it with you to the one place of worship. ³Go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, ‘I now acknowledge to the Lord my God that I have entered the land that he promised our ancestors to give us.’

⁴“The priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of the Lord your God. ⁵Then, in the Lord’s presence you will recite these words: ‘My ancestor was a wandering Aramean, who took his family to Egypt to live. They were few in number when they went there, but they became a large and powerful nation. ⁶The Egyptians treated us harshly and forced us to work as slaves. ⁷Then we cried out for help to the Lord, the God of our ancestors. He heard us and saw our suffering, hardship, and misery. ⁸By his great power and strength he rescued us from Egypt. He worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen. ⁹He brought us here and gave us this rich and fertile land. ¹⁰So now I bring to the Lord the first part of the harvest that he has given me.’

“Then set the basket down in the Lord’s presence and worship there. ¹¹Be grateful for the good things…