You 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;
Parallel translations
- KJV And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:
- BSB And you must have a digging tool in your equipment so that when you relieve yourself you can dig a hole and cover up your excrement.
- ESV And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement.
- NKJV and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse.
- NASB and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn and cover up your excrement.
- NLT Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Each soldier must carry a trowel to bury his waste. Cleanliness and order honored the LORD's presence in the camp.
Overview
This concrete instruction ensured the camp remained sanitary and undefiled. Such attention to detail flowed from the awareness that God walked among them and the camp was to be holy. The law illustrates how reverence for God's presence shapes even the most practical habits, calling His people to order, cleanliness, and consecration in everything.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Ezek 24:6–8Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the bloody city, to the cauldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! take out of it piece after piece; No lot is fallen on it.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 23:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.