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11 And Jehovah spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the living things which ye may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and [a]cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that may ye eat. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that part the hoof: the camel, because he [b]cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the [c]coney, because he [d]cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the hare, because she [e]cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, she is unclean unto you. And the swine, because he parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, but [f]cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you. Of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch; they are unclean unto you.

These may ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, that may ye eat. 10 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are an abomination unto you, 11 and they shall be an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, and their carcasses ye shall have in abomination. 12 Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that is an abomination unto you.

13 And these ye shall have in abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the [g]eagle, and the gier-eagle, and the ospray, 14 and the kite, and the falcon after its kind, 15 every raven after its kind, 16 and the ostrich, and the [h]night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kind, 17 and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, 18 and the [i]horned owl, and the pelican, and the vulture, 19 and the stork, the [j]heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.

20 All winged creeping things that go upon all fours are an abomination unto you. 21 Yet these may ye eat of all winged creeping things that go upon all fours, which have legs above their feet, wherewith to leap upon the earth. 22 even these of them ye may eat: the [k]locust after its kind, and the [l]bald locust after its kind, and the [m]cricket after its kind, and the [n]grasshopper after its kind. 23 But all winged creeping things, which have four feet, are an abomination unto you.

24 And by these ye shall become unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcass of them shall be unclean until the even; 25 and whosoever beareth aught of the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 26 Every beast which parteth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, is unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. 27 And whatsoever goeth upon its paws, among all beasts that go on all fours, they are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcass shall be unclean until the even. 28 And he that beareth the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you.

29 And these are they which are unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and the great lizard after its kind, 30 and the [o]gecko, and the [p]land-crocodile, and the [q]lizard, and the [r]sand-lizard, and the chameleon. 31 These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they are dead, shall be unclean until the even. 32 And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherewith any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; then shall it be clean. 33 And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean, and it ye shall break. 34 All food therein which may be eaten, that on which water cometh, shall be unclean; and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. 35 And every thing whereupon any part of their carcass falleth shall be unclean; whether oven, or [s]range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces: they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you. 36 Nevertheless a fountain or a [t]pit wherein is a gathering of water shall be clean: but [u]that which toucheth their carcass shall be unclean. 37 And if aught of their carcass fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean. 38 But if water be put upon the seed, and aught of their carcass fall thereon, it is unclean unto you.

39 And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcass thereof shall be unclean until the even. 40 And he that eateth of the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.

41 And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth is an abomination; it shall not be eaten. 42 Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all fours, or whatsoever hath many feet, even all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination. 43 Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. 44 For I am Jehovah your God: sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that moveth upon the earth. 45 For I am Jehovah that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

46 This is the law of the beast, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth; 47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 11:3 Hebrew bringeth up.
  2. Leviticus 11:4 Hebrew bringeth up.
  3. Leviticus 11:5 Hebrew shaphan, the Hyrax Syriacus or rock-badger.
  4. Leviticus 11:5 Hebrew bringeth up.
  5. Leviticus 11:6 Hebrew bringeth up.
  6. Leviticus 11:7 Hebrew bringeth up.
  7. Leviticus 11:13 Or, great vulture
  8. Leviticus 11:16 Hebrew tahmas, of uncertain meaning.
  9. Leviticus 11:18 Or, swan
  10. Leviticus 11:19 Or, ibis
  11. Leviticus 11:22 Four kinds of locusts or grasshoppers, which are not certainly known.
  12. Leviticus 11:22 Four kinds of locusts or grasshoppers, which are not certainly known.
  13. Leviticus 11:22 Four kinds of locusts or grasshoppers, which are not certainly known.
  14. Leviticus 11:22 Four kinds of locusts or grasshoppers, which are not certainly known.
  15. Leviticus 11:30 Words of uncertain meaning, but probably denoting four kinds of lizards.
  16. Leviticus 11:30 Words of uncertain meaning, but probably denoting four kinds of lizards.
  17. Leviticus 11:30 Words of uncertain meaning, but probably denoting four kinds of lizards.
  18. Leviticus 11:30 Words of uncertain meaning, but probably denoting four kinds of lizards.
  19. Leviticus 11:35 Or, stewpan
  20. Leviticus 11:36 Or, cistern
  21. Leviticus 11:36 Or, he who

Clean and Unclean Food(A)

11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:(B) You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.

“‘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. The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig,(D) though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.(E)

“‘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

  1. Leviticus 11:13 The precise identification of some of the birds, insects and animals in this chapter is uncertain.