Deuteronomy 23:4

King James Version

Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you.

Hebrew Names Version
because they didn't meet you with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Mitzrayim, and because they hired against you Bil`am the son of Be'or from Petor of Aram-Naharayim, to curse you.

Lexham English Bible
because they did not come to meet you with food and with water when you came out of Egypt, and also because they hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor, in Aram Naharaim to act against you to curse you.

English Standard Version
because they did not 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.

New Century Version
This is because the Ammonites and Moabites did not give you bread and water when you came out of Egypt. And they hired Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia, to put a curse on you.

New English Translation
for 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.

Amplified Bible
because they did not meet you with bread (food) and water on the road as you came out of Egypt, and because they hired [to act] against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

New American Standard Bible
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.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Because they met you not with bread & water in the way, when yee came out of Egypt, and because they hyred against thee Balaam the sonne of Beor, of Pethor in Aram-naharaim, to curse thee.

Legacy Standard Bible
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.

Contemporary English Version
This is because when you came out of Egypt, they refused to provide you with food and water. And besides, they hired Balaam to put a curse on you.

Complete Jewish Bible
"No ‘Amoni or Mo'avi may enter the assembly of Adonai , nor may any of his descendants down to the tenth generation ever enter the assembly of Adonai ,

Darby Translation
because they met you not with bread and with water on the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

Easy-to-Read Version
The Ammonites and Moabites refused to give you bread and water on your trip at the time you came from Egypt. They also tried to hire Balaam, the son of Beor from the Mesopotamian city of Pethor, to curse you.

George Lamsa Translation
Because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-nahrin (Mesopotamia) to curse you.

Good News Translation
They refused to provide you with food and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor, from the city of Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you.

Literal Translation
because they did not meet you with bread and with water in 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.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
because they met you not wt bred & water in ye waye, wha ye came out of Egipte. And besides yt, they hired agaynst you Balaa ye sonne of Beor, ye interpreter out of Mesopotamia, to curse ye.

American Standard Version
because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

Bible in Basic English
Because they gave you no bread or water on your way, when you came out of Egypt: and they got Balaam, the son of Peor, from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to put curses on you.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Because they met you not with bread and water in the way, when ye came out of Egypt, and because they hyred against thee Balaam the sonne of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly of the LORD for ever;

King James Version (1611)
Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
because they met you not with bread and water by the way, when ye went out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Mesopotamia to curse thee.

English Revised Version
because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

Berean Standard Bible
For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
for thei nolden come to you with breed and watir in the weie, whanne ye yeden out of Egipt; and for thei hireden ayens thee Balaam, the sone of Beor, fro Mesopotanye of Sirye, that he schulde curse thee;

Young's Literal Translation
because that they have not come before you with bread and with water in the way, in your coming out from Egypt, and because he hath hired against thee Balaam son of Beor, of Pethor of Aram-Naharaim, to revile thee;

Update Bible Version
because they did not meet you with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

Webster's Bible Translation
Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth from Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

World English Bible
because they didn't meet you with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

New King James Version
because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, [fn] to curse you.

New Living Translation
These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in distant Aram-naharaim to curse you.

New Life Bible
because they did not meet you with food and water on your way from Egypt, and they paid Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse you.

New Revised Standard
because they did not meet you with food and water on your journey out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
because they met you not with bread and water, in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt, - but hired against thee Balaam son of Beer from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Because they would not meet you with bread and water in the way, when you came out of Egypt: and because they hired against thee Balaam, the son of Beor, from Mesopotamia in Syria, to curse thee.

Revised Standard Version
because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Be'or from Pethor of Mesopota'mia, to curse you.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
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.

Contextual Overview

¹ He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord . ² A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord ; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord . ³ An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord ; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever: ⁴ Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. ⁵ Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee. ⁶ Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever. ⁷ Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land. ⁸ The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Because they met: Deuteronomy 2:28, Deuteronomy 2:29, Genesis 14:17, Genesis 14:18, 1 Samuel 25:11, 1 Kings 18:4, Isaiah 63:9, Zechariah 2:8, Matthew 25:40, Acts 9:4

because they hired: Numbers 22:5, Numbers 22:7, Numbers 22:17, Nehemiah 13:2

Reciprocal: Genesis 24:10 - Mesopotamia Numbers 22:6 - curse me Numbers 22:32 - thy way Numbers 23:7 - Aram Numbers 24:10 - I called Deuteronomy 23:3 - Ammonite Joshua 24:9 - General Judges 8:5 - loaves Judges 11:25 - Balak Proverbs 26:2 - so Amos 1:13 - and for Amos 2:1 - For three Micah 6:5 - Balak Acts 2:9 - Mesopotamia 1 Timothy 6:10 - the love 2 Peter 2:15 - who

Cross-References

Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Genesis 17:8
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

Genesis 23:12
And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.

Genesis 23:13
And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.

Genesis 23:16
And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

Genesis 47:9
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

Genesis 49:30
In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.

Genesis 50:13
For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

Leviticus 25:23
The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine, for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

1 Chronicles 29:15
For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Because they met you not with bread and with water,.... To supply them therewith, either as a gift, which was a piece of humanity to strangers and travellers, or rather to sell unto them, for on no other terms did the Israelites desire their bread and their water:

in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt; not as soon as they came forth from thence, for it was near forty years after; but it was while they were in the way from thence, as they were journeying to the land of Canaan, and so were travellers, and should have had kindness shown them as such; for though they needed not bread and water, God providing both for them, yet this does not excuse the inhumanity of these people: the words are to be understood by way of distribution; this charge here only belongs to the Ammonites, for it appears that the Moabites did give them bread and water for money, Deuteronomy 2:28 as what follows belongs peculiarly to the Moabites and not the Ammonites:

and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee; this the Moabites did in conjunction with the Midianites, but the Ammonites had no concern in it; see Numbers 22:7, it was not therefore because the Moabites and Ammonites were born in incest that they were forbidden entrance into the congregation of the Lord; which might have been thought to have been the reason of it, these instances following upon the former, had not these reasons been assigned.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This law forbids only the naturalization of those against whom it is directed. It does not forbid their dwelling in the land; and seems to refer rather to the nations than to individuals. It was not understood at any rate to interdict marriage with a Moabitess; compare Ruth 1:4; Ruth 4:13. Ruth however, and her sister were doubtless proselytes.

Deuteronomy 23:4

Compare the marginal reference. The Moabites and the Ammonites are to be regarded as clans of the same stock rather than as two independent nations, and as acting together. Compare 2 Chronicles 20:1.