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Deuteronomy 23
New King James Version

### Those Excluded from the Congregation

23 “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)“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever, 4 (C)because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and (D)because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of [a]Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God (E)loves you. 6 (F)You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, (G)for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because (H)you were an alien in his land. 8 The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.

### Cleanliness of the Campsite

9 “When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing. 10 (I)If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp. 11 But it shall be, when evening comes, that (J)he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp.

12 “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; 13 and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. 14 For the Lord your God (K)walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

### Miscellaneous Laws

15 (L)“You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it [b]seems best to him; (M)you shall not oppress him.

17 “There shall be no ritual [c]harlot (N)of the daughters of Israel, or a (O)perverted[d] one of the sons of Israel. 18 You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the Lord your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are [e]an abomination to the Lord your God.

19 (P)“You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest. 20 (Q)To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, (R)that the Lord your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.

21 (S)“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. 22 But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. 23 (T)That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.

24 “When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. 25 When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, (U)you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.

#### Footnotes

1. Deuteronomy 23:4 Heb. Aram Naharaim
2. Deuteronomy 23:16 pleases him best
3. Deuteronomy 23:17 Heb. qedeshah, fem. of qadesh (next note)
4. Deuteronomy 23:17 Heb. qadesh, one practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals
5. Deuteronomy 23:18 detestable

#### Cross references

1. Deuteronomy 23:1 : Lev. 21:20; 22:24
2. Deuteronomy 23:3 : Neh. 13:1, 2
3. Deuteronomy 23:4 : Deut. 2:27–30
4. Deuteronomy 23:4 : Num. 22:5, 6; 23:7; Josh. 24:9; 2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 11
5. Deuteronomy 23:5 : Deut. 4:37
6. Deuteronomy 23:6 : Ezra 9:12
7. Deuteronomy 23:7 : Gen. 25:24–26; Deut. 2:4, 8; Amos 1:11; Obad. 10, 12
8. Deuteronomy 23:7 : Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:19
9. Deuteronomy 23:10 : Lev. 15:16
10. Deuteronomy 23:11 : Lev. 15:5
11. Deuteronomy 23:14 : Lev. 26:12; Deut. 7:21
12. Deuteronomy 23:15 : 1 Sam. 30:15
13. Deuteronomy 23:16 : Ex. 22:21; Prov. 22:22
14. Deuteronomy 23:17 : Lev. 19:29; Deut. 22:21
15. Deuteronomy 23:17 : Gen. 19:5; 2 Kin. 23:7
16. Deuteronomy 23:19 : Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:35–37; Neh. 5:2–7; Ps. 15:5
17. Deuteronomy 23:20 : Deut. 15:3
18. Deuteronomy 23:20 : Deut. 15:10
19. Deuteronomy 23:21 : Num. 30:1, 2; Job 22:27; Ps. 61:8; Eccl. 5:4, 5; Matt. 5:33
20. Deuteronomy 23:23 : Num. 30:2; Ps. 66:13, 14
21. Deuteronomy 23:25 : Matt. 12:1; Mark 2:23; Luke 6:1

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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