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Leviticus 11
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
Leviticus 11
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
11 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2 Say to the Israelites: These are the animals [a]which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.(A)
3 Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, any of these animals you may eat.
4 Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud or divide the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you.
5 And the coney or rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you.
6 And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you.
7 And the swine, because it divides the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud; it is unclean to you.
8 Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.
9 These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, these you may eat;
10 But all that have not fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all the creeping things in the waters, and of all the living creatures which are in the waters, they are [to be considered] an abomination and abhorrence to you.(B)
11 They shall continue to be an abomination to you; you shall not eat of their flesh, but you shall detest their carcasses.
12 Everything in the waters that has not fins or scales shall be abhorrent and detestable to you.
13 These you shall have in abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, for they are detestable: the eagle, the ossifrage, the ospray,
14 The kite, the whole species of falcon,
15 Every kind of raven,
16 The ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, every species of hawk,
17 The owl, the cormorant, the ibis,
18 The swan, the pelican, the vulture,
19 The stork, all kinds of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20 All winged insects that go upon all fours are to be an abomination to you;
21 Yet of all winged insects that go upon all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet with which to leap on the ground.
22 Of these you may eat: the whole species of locust, of bald locust, of cricket, and of grasshopper.(C)
23 But all other winged insects which have four feet shall be detestable to you.
24 And by [contact with] these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of them shall be unclean until the evening,
25 And whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
26 Every beast which parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you; everyone who touches them shall be unclean.
27 And all that go on their paws, among all kinds of four-footed beasts, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening,
28 And he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
29 These also are unclean to you among the creeping things [that multiply greatly] and creep upon the ground: the weasel, the mouse, any kind of great lizard,
30 The gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.
31 These are unclean to you among all that creep; whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.
32 And upon whatever they may fall when they are dead, it shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or clothing or skin (bottle) or sack, any vessel in which work is done; it must be put in water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; so it shall be cleansed.
33 And every earthen vessel into which any of these [creeping things] falls, whatever may be in it shall be unclean, and you shall break the vessel.
34 Of all the food [in one of these unclean vessels] which may be eaten, that on which such water comes shall be unclean, and all drink that may be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean.
35 And everything upon which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether an oven, or pan with a lid, or hearth for pots, it shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.
36 Yet a spring or a cistern or reservoir of water shall be clean; but whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean.
37 If a part of their carcass falls on seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean;
38 But if any water be put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it shall be unclean to you.
39 If any animal of which you may eat dies [unslaughtered], he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.
40 And he who eats of its carcass [ignorantly] shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening; he also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.
41 And everything that creeps on the ground and [multiplies in] swarms shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten.
42 Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has more [than four] feet among all things that creep on the ground and swarm you shall not eat; for they are detestable.
43 You shall not make yourselves loathsome and abominable [by eating] any swarming thing that [multiplies by] swarms, neither shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them.
44 For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy; neither defile yourselves with any manner of thing that multiplies in large numbers or swarms.(D)
45 For I am the Lord Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.(E)
46 This is the law of the beast, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and creeps on the earth and multiplies in large numbers,
47 To make a difference (a distinction) between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 11:2 At first thought the laws given here seem only to have been made obsolete by Jesus. He taught that it is not what goes into the mouth but what comes out of it that defiles a man (Matt. 15:17-20), and Paul said that when the complete and perfect came, the incomplete and imperfect would become void and superseded (I Cor. 13:9, 10), for “there is nothing unclean of itself” (Rom. 14:14 kjv). But while all these specific laws have become void, we must not lose sight of the fact that they are “superseded” by the underlying spiritual principle, which is just as binding. Christ’s teaching relates to the whole area of our living, including our eating and drinking, and is dominated by the principle, “Whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God” (I Cor. 10:31). We do well to remember that it was Jesus Christ Himself who said, “Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law...; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill” it (Matt. 5:17).
Leviticus 11
New International Version
Leviticus 11
New International Version
Clean and Unclean Food(A)
11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:(B) 3 You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.
4 “‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them.(C) The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. 5 The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 7 And the pig,(D) though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.(E)
9 “‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. 10 But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean.(F) 11 And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean.(G) 12 Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.(H)
13 “‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle,[a] the vulture, the black vulture, 14 the red kite, any kind(I) of black kite, 15 any kind of raven,(J) 16 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18 the white owl,(K) the desert owl, the osprey, 19 the stork,(L) any kind(M) of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.(N)
20 “‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you.(O) 21 There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. 22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust,(P) katydid, cricket or grasshopper. 23 But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.
24 “‘You will make yourselves unclean by these;(Q) whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.(R) 25 Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes,(S) and they will be unclean till evening.(T)
26 “‘Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean. 27 Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 28 Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.(U) These animals are unclean for you.
29 “‘Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you:(V) the weasel, the rat,(W) any kind of great lizard, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. 31 Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. 32 When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth.(X) Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. 33 If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot.(Y) 34 Any food you are allowed to eat that has come into contact with water from any such pot is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such a pot is unclean. 35 Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. 36 A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. 37 If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. 38 But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
39 “‘If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies,(Z) anyone who touches its carcass(AA) will be unclean till evening. 40 Anyone who eats some of its carcass(AB) must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.(AC) Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.
41 “‘Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten. 42 You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean. 43 Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures.(AD) Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. 44 I am the Lord your God;(AE) consecrate yourselves(AF) and be holy,(AG) because I am holy.(AH) Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground.(AI) 45 I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt(AJ) to be your God;(AK) therefore be holy, because I am holy.(AL)
46 “‘These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. 47 You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.(AM)’”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 11:13 The precise identification of some of the birds, insects and animals in this chapter is uncertain.
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