Open English Translation DEU Chapter 23

23 No man with crushed testicles or a severed penis is allowed to enter into Yahweh’s assembly.

2 No illegitimate child[fn] is allowed to enter into Yahweh’s assembly, even down to the tenth generation.

3 No Ammonite or Moabite is allowed to enter into Yahweh’s assembly, even down past the tenth generation[ref] 4 since they wouldn’t even sell you bread and water when the people were travelling from Egypt to Canaan. What’s more, they hired Beor’s son Bil’am (Balaam) (from Petor in Aram-Naharayim) to curse you 5 However, your god Yahweh took no notice of Bil’am and turned the curse into a blessing because he loves you,[ref] 6 so you must never strive for peace or prosperity for the Ammonites or the Moabites.

7 In contrast, don’t despise the Edomites because they’re your cousins (descendants of your ancestor Yitshak). And don’t despise the Egyptians, because you lived there as foreigners. 8 The third generation (grandchildren) of any of Edomites or Egyptians that live among you, may enter Yahweh’s assembly.

9 When your warriors are out besieging your enemies, they you must avoid ceremonial impurity. 10 If something happens at night to make a man ‘unclean’, then he must stay outside the camp the next day and not join the others. 11 That evening, he must wash himself in water, then once the sun has set, he may reenter the camp.

12 You must have a place outside your camp where you can go to relieve yourself. 13 You must have a spade among your equipment so that when you go to relieve yourself, you can dig a hole and then cover it up afterwards, 14 because your god Yahweh walks in your camp to give you victory to defeat your enemies, so your camp must be sacred so he won’t see anything ‘unclean’ and turn away from you.

15 You mustn’t return any slaves to their master if they escaped and got to you. 16 Allow them to stay in your town and don’t mistreat them.

17 Don’t allow any Israeli man or woman to become a religious[fn] prostitute.[ref] 18 Don’t allow anyone woman or man to bring any part of their wages as a secular prostitute into your god Yahweh’s temple, because both female and male prostitution is abhorrent to him.

19 You mustn’t charge interest to your fellow Israeli, whether it’s money or food or anything else that’s borrowed.[ref] 20 You can charge foreigners interest, but not fellow Israelis so that your god Yahweh will bless your society in everything you do in the land that you’re about to occupy.

21 When you make a vow to your god Yahweh, don’t put off fulfilling it, because he will hold you accountable and not doing it would count as disobeying him. 22 However of course, if you don’t make any vows, then you won’t be guilty, 23 but if you’ve spoken your promise out loud to your god Yahweh, then you’re obligated to keep it.

24 If you’re walking through someone else’s vineyard, you can eat as many grapes as you like, but you mustn’t pick any to take away in a container. 25 Similarly, if you’re going through someone else’s field of grain, you can crunch a few kernels, but you mustn’t cut off any of the stalks.