Deuteronomy 23-24

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.

Law Concerning Divorce

24 “When a ^(V)man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some ^[f]uncleanness in her, and he writes her a ^(W)certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, ² when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, ³ if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, ^4 (X)then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is ^[g]an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Miscellaneous Laws

^5 (Y)“When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and ^(Z)bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

⁶ “No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes ^[h]one’s living in pledge.

⁷ “If a man is ^(AA)found ^[i]kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; ^(AB)and you shall put away the evil from among you.

⁸ “Take heed in ^(AC)an outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. ^9 (AD)Remember what the Lord your God did ^(AE)to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt!

¹⁰ “When you ^(AF)lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. ¹¹ You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you. ¹² And if the man is poor, you shall not ^[j]keep his pledge overnight. ^13 (AG)You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment and ^(AH)bless you; and ^(AI)it shall be righteousness to you before the Lord your God.

¹⁴ “You shall not ^(AJ)oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. ¹⁵ Each day ^(AK)you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; ^(AL)lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.

^16 (AM)“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.

^17 (AN)“You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, ^(AO)nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge. ¹⁸ But ^(AP)you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing.

^19 (AQ)“When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may ^(AR)bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. ²¹ When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. ²² And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.