Exclusion and Inclusion

23 “No man whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may enter the Lord’s assembly. ² No one of illegitimate birth may enter the Lord’s assembly; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, may enter the Lord’s assembly. ³ No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the Lord’s assembly;^(A) none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the Lord’s assembly. ⁴ This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you.^{(B) 5} Yet the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but he turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves^(C) you.^{(D) 6} Never pursue their welfare or prosperity as long as you live. ⁷ Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were a resident alien in his land. ⁸ The children born to them in the third generation may enter the Lord’s assembly.

Cleanliness of the Camp

⁹ “When you are encamped against your enemies, be careful to avoid anything offensive. ¹⁰ If there is a man among you who is unclean because of a bodily emission during the night, he must go outside the camp; he may not come anywhere inside the camp. ¹¹ When evening approaches, he is to wash with water, and when the sun sets he may come inside the camp.^{(E) 12} You are to have a place outside the camp and go there to relieve yourself. ¹³ You are to have a digging tool in your equipment; when you relieve yourself, dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement. ¹⁴ For the Lord your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you; so your encampments must be holy. He must not see anything indecent among you or he will turn away from you.

Fugitive Slaves

¹⁵ “Do not return a slave to his master when he has escaped from his master to you. ¹⁶ Let him live among you wherever he wants within your city gates. Do not mistreat him.

Cult Prostitution Forbidden

¹⁷ “No Israelite woman is to be a cult prostitute, and no Israelite man is to be a cult prostitute. ¹⁸ Do not bring a female prostitute’s wages or a male prostitute’s^[a] earnings into the house of the Lord your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the Lord your God.

Interest on Loans

¹⁹ “Do not charge your brother interest on silver, food, or anything that can earn interest. ²⁰ You may charge a foreigner interest, but you must not charge your brother Israelite interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do^[b] in the land you are entering to possess.^(F)

Keeping Vows

²¹ “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to keep it, because he will require it of you, and it will be counted against you as sin. ²² But if you refrain from making a vow, it will not be counted against you as sin. ²³ Be careful to do whatever comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed what you promised to the Lord your God.^(G)

Neighbor’s Crops

²⁴ “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you want until you are full, but do not put any in your container. ²⁵ When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck heads of grain with your hand, but do not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

Marriage and Divorce Laws

24 “If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.^{(H) 2} If after leaving his house she goes and becomes another man’s wife, ³ and the second man hates her, writes her a divorce certificate, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house or if he dies, ⁴ the first husband who sent her away may not marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.^(I)

⁵ “When a man takes a bride, he must not go out with the army or be liable for any duty. He is free to stay at home for one year, so that he can bring joy to the wife he has married.

Safeguarding Life

⁶ “Do not take a pair of grindstones or even the upper millstone as security for a debt, because that is like taking a life as security.

⁷ “If a man is discovered kidnapping^(J) one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from you.

⁸ “Be careful with a person who has a case of serious skin disease, following carefully everything the Levitical priests instruct you to do. Be careful to do as I have commanded them. ⁹ Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt.^(K)

Consideration for People in Need

¹⁰ “When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect what he offers as security. ¹¹ Stand outside while the man you are making the loan to brings the security out to you. ¹² If he is a poor man, do not sleep with the garment he has given as security. ¹³ Be sure to return it^[c] to him at sunset. Then he will sleep in it and bless you, and this will be counted as righteousness to you before the Lord your God.^(L)

¹⁴ “Do not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether one of your Israelite brothers or one of the resident aliens in a town^[d] in your land. ¹⁵ You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and depends on them.^(M) Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.

¹⁶ “Fathers are not to be put to death for their children, and children are not to be put to death for their fathers; each person will be put to death for his own sin.^{(N) 17} Do not deny justice to a resident alien or fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security. ¹⁸ Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed^(O) you from there. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.^(P)

¹⁹ “When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.^{(Q) 20} When you knock down the fruit from your olive tree, do not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow. ²¹ When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left. What remains will be for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow. ²² Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.^(R)

Gabriel Predicts Jesus’s Birth

²⁶ In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel^(A) was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,^{(B) 27} to a virgin engaged^[a](C) to a man named Joseph, of the house of David.^(D) The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”^{[b] 29} But she was deeply troubled^(E) by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. ³⁰ Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary,^(F) for you have found favor with God.^{(G) 31} Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.^{(H) 32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High,^(I) and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.^{(J) 33} He will reign over the house of Jacob^(K) forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” ^(L)

³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” ^[c]

³⁵ The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,^(M) and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.^{(N) 36} And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.”^(O)

³⁸ “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Wisdom versus Foolishness