The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

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- Chapter 23 -

“A eunuch, one whose testicles have been debilitated or cut off, or whose penis has been cut off, shall not enter into the church of the Lord.(a)

(b)

The offspring of a harlot, that is, one born of a prostitute, shall not enter into the church of the Lord, until the tenth generation.

The Ammonite and the Moabite, even after the tenth generation, shall not enter into the church of the Lord forever,

because they were not willing to meet you with bread and water along the way, when you had departed from Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam, the son of Beor, from Mesopotamia in Syria, in order to curse you.

But the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, and he turned his cursing into your blessing, because he loves you.

You shall not make peace with them, nor shall you seek their prosperity, throughout all the days of your life forever.

You shall not abhor anyone from Idumea, for he is your brother, nor the Egyptian, for you were a new arrival in his land.

Those who have been born of them, in the third generation, shall enter into the church of the Lord.

Uncleanness in the Camp

(Leviticus 15:1–12)

When you have gone out to war against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from everything that is evil.

If there is a man among you who has been defiled by a dream in the night, he shall depart from the camp.

And he shall not return before the evening, after he has washed with water, and then, after the sun sets, he shall return to the camp.

You shall have a place beyond the camp to which you may go for the necessities of nature,

carrying a small shovel at your belt. And when you would sit down, you shall dig around, and then, with the soil that was dug up, you shall cover

that from which you were relieved. For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, in order to rescue you, and to deliver your enemies to you. And so, let your camp be holy, and let nothing filthy appear within it, lest he abandon you.(c)

Miscellaneous Laws

You shall not deliver a servant who has fled to you to his master.

He shall live with you in a place that pleases him, and he shall rest in one of your cities. You shall not grieve him.

There shall be no prostitutes among the daughters of Israel, nor anyone among the sons of Israel who visits a prostitute.

You shall not offer money from a prostitute, nor the price of a dog, in the house of the Lord your God, no matter what you may have vowed. For both of these are an abomination with the Lord your God.

You shall not lend money, or grain, or anything else at all, to your brother at interest,

but only to a foreigner. For you shall lend to your brother whatever he needs without interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your works in the land, which you shall enter so as to possess it.(d)

When you have made a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not be late in paying it. For the Lord your God demands it. And if you delay, it shall be imputed to you as a sin.

If you are not willing to make a promise, then it shall be without sin.

But as soon as it has departed from your lips, you shall observe and do just as you have promised to the Lord your God and just as you have spoken by your own free will and with your own mouth.

Upon entering your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you please. But you may not carry any out with you.

If you enter into your friend’s grain field, you may break off the ears, and rub them in your hand, but you may not reap them with a sickle.”

Footnotes

(a)23:1 Eunuch:By these are meant, in the spiritual sense, such as are barren in good works.(Challoner)

(b)23:1 Into the church:That is, into the assembly or congregation of Israel, so as to have the privilege of an Israelite, or to be capable of any place or office among the people of God.(Challoner)

(c)23:14 No uncleanness:This caution against suffering any filth in the camp, was to teach them to fly the filth of sin, which drives God away from the soul.(Challoner)

(d)23:20 To the stranger:This was a dispensation granted by God to his people, who being the Lord of all things, can give a right and title to one upon the goods of another. Otherwise the scripture everywhere condemns usury, as contrary to the law of God, and a crying sin. See Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:36, 37; 2 Esd. 5:7; Ps. 14:5; Ezech. 18:8, 13, etc.(Challoner)

He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into the LORD’s assembly.

A person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into the LORD’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into the LORD’s assembly.

An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the LORD’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into the LORD’s assembly forever,

because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

Nevertheless the LORD your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because the LORD your God loved you.

You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.

The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter into the LORD’s assembly.

Uncleanness in the Camp

(Leviticus 15:1–12)

When you go out and camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing.

If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens to him by night, then shall he go outside of the camp. He shall not come within the camp;

but it shall be, when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water. When the sun is down, he shall come within the camp.

You shall have a place also outside of the camp where you go relieve yourself.

You shall have a trowel among your weapons. It shall be, when you relieve yourself, you shall dig with it, and shall turn back and cover your excrement;

for the LORD your God walks in the middle of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore your camp shall be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from you.

Miscellaneous Laws

You shall not deliver to his master a servant who has escaped from his master to you.

He shall dwell with you, among you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best. You shall not oppress him.

There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a male prostitute,(a) into the house of the LORD your God for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.

You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest.

You may charge a foreigner interest; but you shall not charge your brother interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it.

When you vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you.

But if you refrain from making a vow, it shall be no sin in you.

You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to the LORD your God as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do.

When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat your fill of grapes at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your container.

When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.

Footnotes

(a)23:18 literally, dog