Deuteronomy 23
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Purity in Public Worship

1A man with crushed or severed genitals may not enter the assembly of the Lord. 2A person of illegitimate birth may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so.

3An Ammonite or Moabite may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever do so, 4for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 5But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves you. 6You must not seek peace and prosperity for them through all the ages to come. 7You must not hate an Edomite, for he is your relative; you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner in his land. 8Children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Purity in Personal Hygiene

9When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure. 10If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission, he must leave the camp; he may not reenter it immediately. 11When evening arrives he must wash himself with water and then at sunset he may reenter the camp.

12You are to have a place outside the camp to serve as a latrine. 13You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself outside you must dig a hole with the spade and then turn and cover your excrement. 14For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.

Purity in the Treatment of the Nonprivileged

15You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you. 16Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages he prefers; you must not oppress him.

Purity in Cultic Personnel

17There must never be a sacred prostitute among the young women of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute among the young men of Israel. 18You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute or the wage of a male prostitute into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.

Respect for Others’ Property

19You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite, whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest. 20You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite; if you keep this command the Lord your God will bless you in all you undertake in the land you are about to enter to possess. 21When you make a vow to the Lord your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he will surely hold you accountable as a sinner. 22If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful. 23Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering. 24When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat as many grapes as you please, but you must not take away any in a container. 25When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.

Deuteronomy 22
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