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14 Ye are sons of Jehovah your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for a dead person.

For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, and thee hath Jehovah chosen for a people of possession unto himself, out of all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.

These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat;

the hart, and the gazelle, and the stag, and the wild goat, and the dishon and the oryx, and the wild sheep.

And every beast that hath cloven hoofs, and the feet quite split open into double hoofs, [and] which cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that ye shall eat.

Only these ye shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those with hoofs cloven and split open: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger; for they chew the cud, but have not cloven hoofs—they shall be unclean unto you;

and the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, yet cheweth not the cud—it shall be unclean unto you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch.

These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales shall ye eat;

10 but whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat: it shall be unclean unto you.

11 All clean birds shall ye eat.

12 But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle,

13 and the falcon, and the kite, and the black kite after its kind;

14 and every raven after its kind;

15 and the female ostrich, and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk after its kind;

16 the owl, and the ibis and the swan,

17 and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the gannet,

18 and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.

19 And every winged crawling thing shall be unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten.

20 All clean fowls shall ye eat.

21 Ye shall eat of no carcase; thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it, or sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people to Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, the produce of the field, year by year.

23 And thou shalt eat before Jehovah thy God, in the place which he will choose to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear Jehovah thy God continually.

24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which Jehovah thy God will choose to set his name there, when Jehovah thy God blesseth thee;

25 then shalt thou give it for money, and bind the money together in thy hand, and go to the place which Jehovah thy God will choose,

26 and thou shalt give the money for whatever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thy house.

27 And thou shalt not forsake the Levite that is within thy gates; for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee.

28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates;

29 and the Levite—for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee—and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.

Clean and Unclean Food(A)

14 You are the children(B) of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, for you are a people holy(C) to the Lord your God.(D) Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.(E)

Do not eat any detestable thing.(F) These are the animals you may eat:(G) the ox, the sheep, the goat,(H) the deer,(I) the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat,(J) the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.[a] You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. However, of those that chew the cud or that have a divided hoof you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the hyrax. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.(K)

Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. 10 But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.

11 You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 13 the red kite, the black kite, any kind(L) of falcon,(M) 14 any kind of raven,(N) 15 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the desert owl,(O) the osprey, the cormorant, 18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

19 All flying insects are unclean to you; do not eat them. 20 But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.(P)

21 Do not eat anything you find already dead.(Q) You may give it to the foreigner residing in any of your towns, and they may eat it, or you may sell it to any other foreigner. But you are a people holy to the Lord your God.(R)

Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.(S)

Tithes

22 Be sure to set aside a tenth(T) of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat(U) the tithe of your grain, new wine(V) and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name,(W) so that you may learn(X) to revere(Y) the Lord your God always. 24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange(Z) your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink,(AA) or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice.(AB) 27 And do not neglect the Levites(AC) living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.(AD)

28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes(AE) of that year’s produce and store it in your towns,(AF) 29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment(AG) or inheritance(AH) of their own) and the foreigners,(AI) the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied,(AJ) and so that the Lord your God may bless(AK) you in all the work of your hands.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 14:5 The precise identification of some of the birds and animals in this chapter is uncertain.