Deuteronomy 23:15-25·~1 min

Miscellaneous Laws

A runaway slave who seeks refuge must not be returned to his master. He may live freely among Israel in a place he chooses, and he must not be oppressed.

D¹⁵o not return a slave to his master if he has taken refuge with you. ¹⁶Let him live among you wherever he chooses, in the town of his pleasing. Do not oppress him.

Israel must not practice shrine prostitution, and money earned that way must not be brought into the house of the LORD for a vow. Both the act and its offering are rejected.

¹⁷No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute. ¹⁸You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.

An Israelite must not charge interest to a brother on money, food, or any loan, though interest may be charged to a foreigner. The command ties brotherhood to generosity and to blessing in the land.

¹⁹Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan. ²⁰You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess.

A vow made to the LORD must be kept without delay, since failure brings guilt. Yet no guilt comes from not making a vow at all; the emphasis falls on keeping words once freely spoken.

²¹If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. ²²But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin. ²³Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth.

A person may eat grapes in a neighbor’s vineyard or pluck grain by hand in a neighbor’s field, but may not gather any to carry away. Use is permitted, but taking is limited.

²⁴When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not put any in your basket. ²⁵When you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

Section summaryThis section gathers laws for vulnerable people, worship, money, speech, and property. Together they describe a community where refuge is protected, sacred things are not corrupted, promises are kept, and even ordinary use of a neighbor’s produce is bounded by restraint.

Role in the chapterIt closes the chapter by widening from camp holiness to varied acts of daily life. The section shows that the LORD’s ordering reaches refuge, commerce, worship, speech, and neighborly conduct alike.