Deuteronomy 23-25

New International Reader's Version

Who Can Join in Worship With the Lord’s People?

23 No man whose sex organs have been crushed or cut can join in worship with the Lord’s people.

² No one born to an unmarried woman can join in worship with the Lord’s people. That also applies to the person’s children for all time to come.

³ The people of Ammon and Moab can’t join in worship with the Lord’s people. That also applies to their children after them for all time to come. ⁴ The Ammonites and Moabites didn’t come to meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt. They even hired Balaam from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to put a curse on you. Balaam was the son of Beor. ⁵ The Lord your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam. Instead, he turned the curse into a blessing for you. He did it because he loves you. ⁶ So don’t make a peace treaty with the Ammonites and Moabites as long as you live.

⁷ Don’t hate the people of Edom. They are your relatives. Don’t hate the people of Egypt. After all, you lived as outsiders in their country. ⁸ The great-grandchildren of the Edomites and Egyptians can join in worship with the Lord’s people.

Keep the Camp of the Soldiers Pure and “Clean”

⁹ There will be times when you are at war with your enemies. And your soldiers will be in camp. Then keep away from anything that isn’t pure and “clean.” ¹⁰ Suppose semen flows from the body of one of your soldiers during the night. Then that will make him “unclean.” He must go outside the camp and stay there. ¹¹ But as evening approaches, he must wash himself. When the sun goes down, he can return to the camp.

¹² Choose a place outside the camp where you can go to the toilet. ¹³ Keep a shovel among your tools. When you go to the toilet, dig a hole. Then cover up your waste. ¹⁴ The Lord your God walks around in your camp. He’s there to keep you safe. He’s also there to hand your enemies over to you. So your camp must be holy. Then he won’t see anything among you that is shameful. He won’t turn away from you.

Several Other Laws

¹⁵ If a slave comes to you for safety, don’t hand them over to their master. ¹⁶ Let them live among you anywhere they want to. Let them live in any town they choose. Don’t treat them badly.

¹⁷ A man or woman in Israel must not become a temple prostitute. ¹⁸ The Lord your God hates the money that men and women get for being prostitutes. So don’t take that money into the house of the Lord to pay what you promised to give.

¹⁹ Don’t charge your own people any interest. Don’t charge them when they borrow money, food or anything else. ²⁰ You can charge interest to people from another country. But don’t charge your own people. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. He will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.

²¹ Don’t put off giving to the Lord your God everything you promise him. He will certainly require it from you. And you will be guilty of committing a sin. ²² But if you don’t make a promise, you won’t be guilty. ²³ Make sure you do what you promised to do. With your own mouth you made the promise to the Lord your God. No one forced you to do it.

²⁴ When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you can eat all the grapes you want. But don’t put any of them in your basket. ²⁵ When you enter your neighbor’s field, you can pick heads of grain. But don’t cut down their standing grain.

24 Suppose a man marries a woman. But later he decides he doesn’t like her. He finds something shameful about her. So he gives her a letter of divorce and sends her away from his house. ² Then after she leaves his house she becomes another man’s wife. ³ But her second husband doesn’t like her either. So he gives her a letter of divorce and sends her away from his house. Or perhaps he dies. ⁴ Then her first husband isn’t allowed to marry her again. The Lord would hate that. When her first husband divorced her, she became “unclean.” Don’t bring sin on the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.

⁵ Suppose a man has just married his wife. Then don’t send him into battle. Don’t give him any other duty either. He’s free to stay home for one year. He needs time to make his new wife happy.

⁶ Someone might borrow money from you and give you two millstones to keep until you are paid back. Don’t keep them. Don’t even keep the upper one. That person needs both millstones to make a living.

⁷ Suppose someone is caught kidnapping another Israelite. And they sell or treat that person as a slave. Then the kidnapper must die. Get rid of that evil person.

⁸ What about skin diseases? Be very careful to do exactly what the priests, who are Levites, tell you to do. You must be careful to obey the commands I’ve given them. ⁹ Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your way out of Egypt.

¹⁰ Suppose your neighbor borrows something from you. And he offers you something to keep until you get paid back. Then don’t go into their house to get it. ¹¹ Stay outside. Let the neighbor bring it out to you. ¹² The neighbor might be poor. You might be given their coat to keep until you get paid back. Don’t go to sleep while you still have it. ¹³ Return it before the sun goes down. They need it to sleep in and will thank you for returning it. The Lord your God will see it and know that you have done the right thing.

¹⁴ Don’t take advantage of any hired worker who is poor and needy. That applies to your own people. It also applies to outsiders living in one of your towns. ¹⁵ Give them their pay every day. They are poor and are counting on it. If you don’t pay them, they might cry out to the Lord against you. Then you will be guilty of committing a sin.

¹⁶ Parents must not be put to death because of what their children do. And children must not be put to death because of what their parents do. People must die because of their own sins.

¹⁷ Do what is right and fair for outsiders and for children whose fathers have died. Suppose a widow borrows something from you. And she offers to give you her coat until she pays you back. Don’t take it. ¹⁸ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. Remember that the Lord your God set you free from there. That’s why I’m commanding you to do those things.

¹⁹ When you are gathering crops in your field, you might leave some grain behind by mistake. Don’t go back to get it. Leave it behind for outsiders and widows. Leave it for children whose fathers have died. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. ²⁰ When you knock olives off your trees, don’t go back over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for outsiders and widows. Leave it for children whose fathers have died. ²¹ When you pick grapes in your vineyard, don’t go back over the vines a second time. Leave what remains for outsiders and widows. Leave it for children whose fathers have died. ²² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That’s why I’m commanding you to do these things.

25 Suppose two people don’t agree about something. Then they must take their case to court. The judges will decide the case. They will let the one who isn’t guilty go free. And they will punish the one who is guilty. ² The guilty one might have done something that’s worthy of a beating. Then the judge will make them lie down and be beaten with a whip right there in court. The number of strokes should fit the crime. ³ But the judge must not give the guilty person more than 40 strokes. If more than that are used, you will have disrespected your Israelite neighbor.

⁴ Don’t stop an ox from eating while you use it to separate grain from straw.

⁵ Suppose two brothers are living near each other. And one of them dies without having a son. Then his widow must not marry anyone outside the family. Her husband’s brother should marry her. That’s what a brother-in-law is supposed to do. ⁶ Her first baby boy will be named after her first husband. Then the dead man’s name will continue in Israel.

⁷ But suppose the man doesn’t want to marry his brother’s wife. Then she will go to the elders at the gate of the town. She will say, “My husband’s brother refuses to keep his brother’s name alive in Israel. He won’t do for me what a brother-in-law is supposed to do.” ⁸ Then the elders in his town will send for him. They will talk to him. But he still might say, “I don’t want to marry her.” ⁹ Then his brother’s widow will go up to him in front of the elders. She’ll pull one of his sandals off his foot. She’ll spit in his face. And she’ll say, “That’s what we do to a man who won’t build up his brother’s family line.” ¹⁰ That man’s family line will be known in Israel as The Family of the Man Whose Sandal Was Pulled Off.

¹¹ Suppose two men are fighting. And the wife of one of them comes to save her husband from his attacker. So she reaches out and grabs hold of his attacker’s private parts. ¹² Then you must cut off her hand. Don’t feel sorry for her.

¹³ Don’t have two different scales. Don’t have scales that cause things to seem heavier or lighter than they really are. ¹⁴ And don’t have two different sets of measures. Don’t have measures that cause things to seem larger or smaller than they really are. ¹⁵ You must use weights and measures that are honest and exact. Then you will live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶ He hates anyone who cheats.

¹⁷ Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your way out of Egypt. ¹⁸ You were tired and worn out. They met up with you on your journey. They attacked everyone who was lagging behind. They didn’t have any respect for God. ¹⁹ The Lord your God will give you peace and rest from all the enemies around you. He’ll do this in the land he’s giving you to take over as your very own. No one on earth will mention the Amalekites ever again because you will destroy them. Do not forget!