Deuteronomy 14:3-21

Contemporary English Version

Animals That Can Be Eaten

(Leviticus 11.1-47)

^3 (A) Don't eat any disgusting animals.

^4-5 You may eat the meat of cattle, sheep, and goats; wild sheep and goats; and gazelles, antelopes, and all kinds of deer. ⁶ It is all right to eat meat from any animals that have divided hoofs and also chew the cud.^[a]

⁷ But don't eat camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. These animals chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. You must treat them as unclean. ⁸ And don't eat pork, since pigs have divided hoofs, but they do not chew their cud. Don't even touch a dead pig!

⁹ You can eat any fish that has fins and scales. But there are other creatures that live in the water, ¹⁰ and if they do not have fins and scales, you must not eat them. Treat them as unclean.

¹¹ You can eat any clean bird. ^12-18 But don't eat the meat of any of the following birds: eagles, vultures, falcons, kites, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, hawks, pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, storks, herons, and hoopoes.^[b] You must not eat bats. ¹⁹ Swarming insects are unclean, so don't eat them. ²⁰ However, you are allowed to eat certain kinds of winged insects.^[c]

^21 (B) You belong to the Lord your God, so if you happen to find a dead animal, don't eat its meat. You may give it to foreigners who live in your town or sell it to foreigners who are visiting your town.

Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.