Deuteronomy 23

²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

³Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”

⁴For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant—

¹⁷“Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.

¹⁸No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;

¹At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,

²because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).

²No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the Lord, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.

³No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the tenth generation.

¹⁰The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary—those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.

⁶A mixed race will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

³“But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

⁸If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

⁴¹You are doing the works of your father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father is God Himself.”

¹At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,

²because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).

⁶The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”

³Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”

²³In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

¹⁰Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”

¹¹“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the Lord make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.

⁷When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,

²because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).

¹⁵They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

⁴for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)

²⁸You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,

²⁹just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving us.”

⁴⁰And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

⁸For this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—

⁷The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

⁸But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

³¹What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

⁴But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

⁹He crouches, he lies down like a lion, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”

¹⁷For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

⁵My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the Lord.’”

¹²Now, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, leaving it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’

²³In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

²⁴Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah.

²David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.

³¹David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

²¹You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

¹⁹So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

⁹Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

³⁴You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

²⁴When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.

²⁵The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau.

³⁰He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

⁶but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

¹No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the Lord.

²No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the Lord, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.

²⁹Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

³⁰since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

¹⁸But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it.

¹¹Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.

¹²He has eyes like blazing fire, and many royal crowns on His head. He has a name written on Him that only He Himself knows.

¹¹Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.

¹²This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction.

²⁶Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the Lord. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord.

³Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the Lord. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.

⁴So the people of Judah gathered to seek the Lord, and indeed, they came from all the cities of Judah to seek Him.

²⁰So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the Lord his God.

¹⁶When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

²“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.

³You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”

¹¹But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

¹²What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?

⁹On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.

²²let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

⁵Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

²⁶to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

²⁷and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

³⁸But the Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

³⁹Then the Lord said, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

⁹It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.

¹⁰They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform.

⁶Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents.

⁷For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.

¹⁶What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

¹²I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

⁵“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

¹⁵“Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”

¹⁴Nor should you stand at the crossroads to cut off their fugitives, nor deliver up their survivors in the day of their distress.

²¹You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

⁹Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’

³“Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.

⁴Let my fugitives stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.” When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land,

⁵“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Hosts.

⁷He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the Lord, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.

²⁹You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.

²⁴There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

¹²He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

²¹she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.

⁴⁶He banished from the land the male shrine prostitutes who remained from the days of his father Asa.

¹⁵But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

²Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

⁶Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

²²You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.

⁸For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.

⁴For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You.

⁵The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all workers of iniquity.

²⁵If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.

⁵who lends his money without interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

³⁵Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.

³⁶Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.

⁷He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

⁸He does not engage in usury or take excess interest, but he withholds his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between men.

³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.

³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

¹⁶He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

¹⁷He withholds his hand from harming the poor and takes no interest or usury. He keeps My ordinances and follows My statutes. Such a man will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will surely live.

¹⁰Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.

³You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

²¹You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

¹⁴and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁷Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and He will repay the lender.

⁴When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

⁵It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

¹³I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You—

¹⁴the vows that my lips promised and my mouth spoke in my distress.

¹⁸I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people,

¹²Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You.

¹Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what the Lord has commanded:

²If a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.

¹¹Make and fulfill your vows to the Lord your God; let all the neighboring lands bring tribute to Him who is to be feared.

²⁵It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.

³⁰Jephthah made this vow to the Lord: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,

³¹then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the Lord, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

¹²When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

²⁵This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands your words: ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, then, do what you have promised! Keep your vows!

²⁶Nevertheless, hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah living in Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the Lord, that never again will any man of Judah living in the land of Egypt invoke My name or say, ‘As surely as the Lord God lives.’

⁴When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

⁵It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

¹¹And she made a vow, saying, “O Lord of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever touch his head.”

²⁶for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”

¹³Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality.

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

²³One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along.

¹At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.

²When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

¹One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.

²But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”