Chapter 23

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.