The Daily Audio Bible

Animals That May Be Eaten^(A)

11 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following regulations ² for the people of Israel. You may eat any land animal ³ that has divided hoofs and that also chews the cud, ^4-6 but you must not eat camels, rock badgers, or rabbits. These must be considered unclean; they chew the cud, but do not have divided hoofs. ⁷ Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs, but do not chew the cud. ⁸ Do not eat these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean.

⁹ You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, ¹⁰ but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales must not be eaten. ¹¹ Such creatures must be considered unclean. You must not eat them or even touch their dead bodies. ¹² You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales.

^13-19 You must not eat any of the following birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants;^[a] hoopoes; or bats.

²⁰ All winged insects are unclean, ²¹ except those that hop. ²² You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers. ²³ But all other small things that have wings and also crawl must be considered unclean.

^24-28 If you touch the dead bodies of the following animals, you will be unclean until evening: all animals with hoofs, unless their hoofs are divided and they chew the cud, and all four-footed animals with paws. If you carry their dead bodies, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening.

^29-30 Moles, rats, mice, and lizards must be considered unclean. ³¹ Whoever touches them or their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. ³² And if their dead bodies fall on anything, it will be unclean. This applies to any article of wood, cloth, leather, or sacking, no matter what it is used for. It shall be dipped in water, but it will remain unclean until evening. ³³ And if their bodies fall into a clay pot, everything that is in it shall be unclean, and you must break the pot. ³⁴ Any food which could normally be eaten, but on which water from such a pot has been poured, will be unclean, and anything drinkable in such a pot is unclean. ³⁵ Anything on which the dead bodies fall is unclean; a clay stove or oven shall be broken, ³⁶ but a spring or a cistern remains clean, although anything else that touches their dead bodies is unclean. ³⁷ If one of them falls on seed that is going to be planted, the seed remains clean. ³⁸ But if the seed is soaking in water and one of them falls on it, the seed is unclean.

³⁹ If any animal that may be eaten dies, anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁰ And if any of you eat any part of the animal, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening; any of you who carry the dead body must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening.

⁴¹ You must not eat any of the small animals that move on the ground, ⁴² whether they crawl, or walk on four legs, or have many legs. ⁴³ Do not make yourselves unclean by eating any of these. ^44 (B)I am the Lord your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. ⁴⁵ I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.

⁴⁶ This, then, is the law about animals and birds, about everything that lives in the water, and everything that moves on the ground. ⁴⁷ You must be careful to distinguish between what is ritually clean and unclean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.

The Purification of Women after Childbirth

12 The Lord gave Moses the following regulations ² for the people of Israel. For seven days after a woman gives birth to a son, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. ^3 (C)On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised. ⁴ Then it will be thirty-three more days until she is ritually clean from her loss of blood; she must not touch anything that is holy or enter the sacred Tent until the time of her purification is completed.

⁵ For fourteen days after a woman gives birth to a daughter, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. Then it will be sixty-six more days until she is ritually clean from her loss of blood.

⁶ When the time of her purification is completed, whether for a son or daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. ⁷ The priest shall present her offering to the Lord and perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean. This, then, is what a woman must do after giving birth.

^8 (D)If the woman cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean.

Jairus' Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak^(A)

²¹ Jesus went back across to the other side of the lake. There at the lakeside a large crowd gathered around him. ²² Jairus, an official of the local synagogue, arrived, and when he saw Jesus, he threw himself down at his feet ²³ and begged him earnestly, “My little daughter is very sick. Please come and place your hands on her, so that she will get well and live!”

²⁴ Then Jesus started off with him. So many people were going along with Jesus that they were crowding him from every side.

²⁵ There was a woman who had suffered terribly from severe bleeding for twelve years, ^26 (B)even though she had been treated by many doctors. She had spent all her money, but instead of getting better she got worse all the time. ²⁷ She had heard about Jesus, so she came in the crowd behind him, ²⁸ saying to herself, “If I just touch his clothes, I will get well.”

²⁹ She touched his cloak, and her bleeding stopped at once; and she had the feeling inside herself that she was healed of her trouble. ³⁰ At once Jesus knew that power had gone out of him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ His disciples answered, “You see how the people are crowding you; why do you ask who touched you?”

³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ The woman realized what had happened to her, so she came, trembling with fear, knelt at his feet, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ Jesus said to her, “My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your trouble.”

³⁵ While Jesus was saying this, some messengers came from Jairus' house and told him, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the Teacher any longer?”

³⁶ Jesus paid no attention to^[a] what they said, but told him, “Don't be afraid, only believe.” ³⁷ Then he did not let anyone else go on with him except Peter and James and his brother John. ³⁸ They arrived at Jairus' house, where Jesus saw the confusion and heard all the loud crying and wailing. ³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why all this confusion? Why are you crying? The child is not dead—she is only sleeping!”

⁴⁰ They started making fun of him, so he put them all out, took the child's father and mother and his three disciples, and went into the room where the child was lying. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha, koum,” which means, “Little girl, I tell you to get up!”

⁴² She got up at once and started walking around. (She was twelve years old.) When this happened, they were completely amazed. ⁴³ But Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone, and he said, “Give her something to eat.”

The Prayer of a Sufferer^[a]

⁸ Sensible people accept good advice. People who talk foolishly will come to ruin.

⁹ Honest people are safe and secure, but the dishonest will be caught.