Clean and Unclean Animals
14 “You are the sons of the Lord your God; [a]you shall not cut yourselves nor [b]shave your forehead for the sake of the dead, 2 for you are a holy people [set apart] to the Lord your God; and the Lord has 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 Lord and 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 the [c]shaphan, 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 but does not chew the 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 prey [d]of 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 dies on 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 Lord your God. You shall not [e]boil a young goat or a 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 [f]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 Lord your God in the place where He chooses to establish His Name (Presence), so that you may learn to fear [and worship] the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] always. 24 If the place where the Lord your God chooses to set His Name (Presence) is a great distance from you and you are not able to carry your tithe, because the Lord your God has blessed you [with such an abundance], 25 then you shall exchange your tithe for money, and take the money in your hand and go to the place [of worship] which the Lord your God chooses. 26 You may spend the money for [g]anything your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or [other] strong drink, or [h]anything else you want. You shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your 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 Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 14:1 These practices were mourning customs associated with paganism.
- Deuteronomy 14:1 Lit make a baldness between your eyes.
- Deuteronomy 14:7 A small, shy, furry animal (Hyrax syriacus) found in the peninsula of the Sinai, northern Israel, and the region around the Dead Sea; kjv coney.
- Deuteronomy 14:13 Lit according to its kind, and so throughout.
- Deuteronomy 14:21 This may refer to an ancient Canaanite fertility rite, though another possibility is that it is an affront to the Creator to kill an animal with the substance that was intended to nourish it. In any case, the rabbis later extended the law to prohibit the consumption of boiled meat upon which a drop of milk had fallen, if the milk imparted any flavor to the meat. Subsequent Jewish law has forbidden the serving of meat and dairy products together.
- Deuteronomy 14:23 This seems to refer to a communal meal which was part of worship, directed by the priests. Elsewhere, the tithe is designated for the priests in compensation for their services, and for the needy (Num 18:21; Deut 26:12).
- Deuteronomy 14:26 Lit whatever your soul desires.
- Deuteronomy 14:26 Lit whatever your soul desires.