Deuteronomy 23 - 24

Those Who May Not Enter the Assembly

“No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of Yahweh. 2 No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation, none of his seed shall enter the assembly of Yahweh. 3 No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation, none of their seed shall ever enter the assembly of Yahweh, 4 because they did not meet you with food and 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. 5 Nevertheless, Yahweh your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because Yahweh your God loves you. 6 You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days. 7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land. 8 The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of Yahweh. 9 “When you go out as an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing. 10 “If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not reenter the camp. 11 But it shall be when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may reenter the camp. 12 “You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there, 13 and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement. 14 Since Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give your enemies over to you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you, or He will turn away from you. 15 “You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your gates of the towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him. 17 “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute. 18 You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of Yahweh your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God. 19 “You shall not charge interest to your brother: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 20 You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you send forth your hand to do in the land which you are about to enter to possess. 21 “When you make a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it will be a sin in you. 22 However, if you refrain from vowing, it will not be a sin in you. 23 You shall be careful and do what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to Yahweh your God that which you spoke with your mouth. 24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket. 25 “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.

Statutes About Divorce

“If a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she goes out of his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before Yahweh, and you shall not bring sin on the land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance. 5 “When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall give gladness to his wife whom he has taken.

Remember You Were Slaves in Egypt

6 “No one shall take a handmill or an upper millstone in pledge, for he would be taking a life in pledge. 7 “If a man is caught kidnapping any of his brothers of the sons of Israel, and he mistreats him or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from among you. 8 “Take care against an infection of leprosy, to be very careful and to do according to all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9 Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt. 10 “When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not enter his house to take his deposit. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the deposit out to you. 12 Now if he is an afflicted man, you shall not sleep with his deposit. 13 When the sun goes down you shall surely return the deposit to him, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it will be righteousness for you before Yahweh your God. 14 “You shall not oppress a hired person who is afflicted and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of your sojourners who is in your land within your gates. 15 You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun goes down, for he is afflicted and sets his soul on it, so that he will not cry against you to Yahweh and it become sin in you. 16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; each shall be put to death for his own sin. 17 “You shall not pervert the justice due a sojourner or an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge. 18 But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that Yahweh your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. 19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the sojourner, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs after you finish; it shall be for the sojourner, for the orphan, and for the widow. 21 “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it after you finish; it shall be for the sojourner, for the orphan, and for the widow. 22 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.