Clean and Unclean Animals

1“You are sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor [a]shave a bald spot [b]above your forehead for the dead. 2For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

3“You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4These are the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5[c]the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6And any animal that has a divided hoof and has its hoofs split in two, and [d]chews the cud, among the animals, [e]that animal you may eat. 7However, you are not to eat these among the ones that [f]chew the cud, or among those that have the hoof divided in [g]two: the camel, the [h]rabbit, and the rock hyrax, for though they [i]chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are unclean to you. 8And the pig, because it has a divided hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, nor touch their carcasses.

9“These you may eat of everything that is in the water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10but anything that does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

11“You may eat any clean bird. 12But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the [j]eagle and the vulture and the [k]buzzard, 13and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14and every raven in its kind, 15and the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16the little owl, the [l]great owl, the white owl, 17the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19And all the swarming insects with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20You may eat any clean bird.

21“You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the stranger who is in your [m]town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a stranger; for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

22“You shall certainly tithe all the produce from [n]what you sow, which comes from the field every year. 23You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24But if the [o]distance is so great for you that you are not able to [p]bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you, 25then you shall [q]exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26And you may spend the money on whatever your [r]heart desires: on oxen, sheep, wine, other strong drink, or whatever your [s]heart [t]desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your [u]town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

28“At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and you shall deposit it in your [v]town. 29And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the stranger, the [w]orphan, and the widow who are in your [x]town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.