Clean and Unclean Animals
1 “You are the sons of the Lordyour God;you shall not cut yourselves norshave your forehead for the sake of the dead,
2 for you are a holy people [set apart] to the Lordyour God; and the Lordhas chosen you out of all the peoples who are on the earth to be a people for His own possession.
3 “You shall not eat anything that is detestable [to the Lordand forbidden by Him].
4 These are the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.
6 Among the animals, you may eat any animal that has the divided hoof [that is, a hoof] split into two parts [especially at its distal extremity] and that chews the cud.
7 However, you are not to eat any of these [animals] among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel, the hare and theshaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not split the hoof; they are unclean for you.
8 The swine, because it has a divided hoof butdoesnotchewthe cud; it is unclean for you. You shall not eat their meat nor touch their carcasses.
9 “Of all [creatures] that are in the waters, you may eat these: anything that has fins and scales you may eat,
10 but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat any clean bird.
12 But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, and the black buzzard,
13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the birds of preyof any variety,
14 and every raven of any variety,
15 and the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, the hawk of any variety,
16 the little owl, the great owl, the long-eared owl,
17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant,
18 the stork, and the heron of any variety, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
19 And all flying insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.
20 You may eat any clean bird.
21 “You shall not eat anything that dieson its own. You may give it to the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is in your [city] gates, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner [since they are not under God’s law], but you are a people holy (set apart) to the Lordyour God. You shall notboil a young goatora lamb in its mother’s milk.
22 “Every year you shall certainly tithe [a tenth] of all the yield of your seed which is produced by your field.
23 You shall eat the tithe (tenth) of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock before the Lordyour God in the place where He chooses to establish His Name (Presence), so that you may learn to fear [and worship] the Lordyour God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] always.
24 If the place where the Lordyour God chooses to set His Name (Presence) is a great distance from you and you are not able to carryyour tithe,because the Lordyour God has blessed you [with such an abundance],
25 then you shall exchangeyour tithefor money, and take the money in your hand and go to the place [of worship] which the Lordyour God chooses.
26 You may spend the money foranything your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or [other] strong drink, oranything else you want. You shall eat there in the presence of the Lordyour God and rejoice, you and your household.
27 Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your [city] gates, for he does not have a share [of land] or an inheritance among you.
28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce for that year, and shall store it up within your [city] gates.
29 The Levite, because he has no share [of land] or an inheritance among you, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow who are within your [city] gates, shall come and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lordyour God may bless you in all the work of your hands.