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Pentateuch · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Deuteronomy 23

Moses renews the covenant and calls Israel to remember, love, and obey God.

Old Testament

Deuteronomy 23

1He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into the LORD’s assembly.

2A 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.

3An 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,

4because 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.

5Nevertheless 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.

6You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

7You 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.

8The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter into the LORD’s assembly.

9When you go out and camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing.

10If 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;

11but it shall be, when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water. When the sun is down, he shall come within the camp.

12You shall have a place also outside of the camp where you go relieve yourself.

13You 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;

14for 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.

15You shall not deliver to his master a servant who has escaped from his master to you.

16He 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.

17There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

18You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a male prostitute, into the house of the LORD your God for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.

19You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest.

20You 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.

21When 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.

22But if you refrain from making a vow, it shall be no sin in you.

23You 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.

24When 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.

25When 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.

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Moses renews the covenant and calls Israel to remember, love, and obey God. Read Deuteronomy 23 within the complete Deuteronomy overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Deuteronomy 23

Deuteronomy 23 contains 25 verses and about 658 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into the LORD’s assembly.” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 25 closes: “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.” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include camp, interest, enter, lord’s, assembly, generation. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Deuteronomy 23

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Deuteronomy 23:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer