Deuteronomy 14
New American Standard Bible
Clean and Unclean Animals
14 “You are (A)sons of the Lord your God; (B)you shall not cut yourselves nor [a]shave a bald spot [b]above your forehead for the dead. 2 For you are (C)a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a (D)people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
3 “(E)You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 (F)These are the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 [c]the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 And any animal that has a divided hoof and has its hoofs split in two, and [d]chews the cud, among the animals, [e]that animal you may eat. 7 However, you are not to eat these among the ones that [f]chew the cud, or among those that have the hoof divided in [g]two: the camel, the [h]rabbit, and the rock hyrax, for though they [i]chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are unclean to you. 8 And the pig, because it has a divided hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, nor touch their carcasses.
9 “These you may eat of everything that is in the water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat any clean bird. 12 But (G)these are the ones that you shall not eat: the [j]eagle and the vulture and the [k]buzzard, 13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14 and every raven in its kind, 15 and the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16 the little owl, the [l]great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all the swarming insects with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 You may eat any clean bird.
21 “(H)You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the stranger who is in your [m]town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a stranger; for you are (I)a holy people to the Lord your God. (J)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
22 “You (K)shall certainly tithe all the produce from [n]what you sow, which comes from the field every year. 23 You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, (L)at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may (M)learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 But if the [o]distance is so great for you that you are not able to [p]bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses (N)to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, 25 then you shall [q]exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 26 And you may spend the money on whatever your [r]heart desires: on oxen, sheep, wine, other strong drink, or whatever your [s]heart [t]desires; and (O)there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 Also you shall not neglect (P)the Levite who is in your [u]town, (Q)for he has no portion or inheritance among you.
28 “(R)At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and you shall deposit it in your [v]town. 29 And the Levite, (S)because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and (T)the stranger, the [w]orphan, and the widow who are in your [x]town, shall come and (U)eat and be satisfied, in order that (V)the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 14:1 Lit make
- Deuteronomy 14:1 Lit between your eyes
- Deuteronomy 14:5 Exact identification of these animals is uncertain
- Deuteronomy 14:6 Lit brings up
- Deuteronomy 14:6 Lit it
- Deuteronomy 14:7 Lit bring up
- Deuteronomy 14:7 Lit a cleaving
- Deuteronomy 14:7 Or hare
- Deuteronomy 14:7 Lit bring up
- Deuteronomy 14:12 Or vulture
- Deuteronomy 14:12 Or black vulture
- Deuteronomy 14:16 Or great horned owl
- Deuteronomy 14:21 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 14:22 Lit your seed
- Deuteronomy 14:24 Lit way
- Deuteronomy 14:24 Lit carry it
- Deuteronomy 14:25 Lit give in money
- Deuteronomy 14:26 Lit soul
- Deuteronomy 14:26 Lit soul
- Deuteronomy 14:26 Lit asks of you
- Deuteronomy 14:27 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 14:28 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 14:29 Or fatherless
- Deuteronomy 14:29 Lit gates
Deuteronomy 14
International Standard Version
Refrain from Cutting Yourselves
14 “You are children of the Lord your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your foreheads on account of the dead, 2 because you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord chose to make you his precious possession from among all the nations[a] of the earth.”
Refrain from Unclean Food
3 “You must not eat any detestable food. 4 These are the animals that you may eat: ox, sheep, goat, 5 deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. 6 You may eat every animal with a divided hoof—those with split cloven hooves—that chews the cud. 7 However, you must not eat these animals that chew the cud or have a divided hoof: the camel, hare, and rock badger. Even though they chew the cud, their hooves are not divided. Therefore, they are unclean for you. 8 And also the pig, because even though its hoof is divided, it does not chew the cud. It is therefore unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or even touch their carcasses.
9 “You may choose to eat from these creatures in the water: you may eat anything with fin and scale, 10 but you may not eat anything without fin and scale, since it is unclean to you.
11 “You may eat all clean birds, 12 but you must not eat any of these: the eagle, vulture, osprey, 13 buzzard, any kind of kite, 14 any kind of raven, 15 the ostrich, night hawk, seagull, any kind of falcon, 16 the little owl, great owl, horned owl, 17 pelican, carrion vulture, cormorant, 18 stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. 19 Any winged, swarming insect is unclean to you—they are not to be eaten. 20 You may eat every bird that is clean.
21 “You must not eat any carcass,[b] but you may give it to the alien in your cities[c] so he may either consume it or sell it to a foreigner, since you are a people that is holy to the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
Remember to Tithe
22 “Be sure to tithe annually from everything you plant that yields a harvest in the field. 23 Then in the presence of the Lord your God, in the place where he’ll choose to establish his name, you may consume the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your livestock and flock, so that you’ll learn to revere the Lord your God all your life. 24 Now the way may be distant from you, so that you are unable to transport your tithe because you have been blessed by the Lord your God and the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish his name may be distant from you. 25 In that case, convert it into cash, secure the money,[d] and then bring it to the place where the Lord will choose. 26 You may spend the money to your heart’s content to buy livestock, flocks, wine, strong drink, and whatever you desire. You and your household may eat there and rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God.”
The Levitical Tithe
27 “But you must not forget the descendant of Levi in your town,[e] because there is no tribal allotment[f] for him as there is for you. 28 Every third year, bring all the tithes of your produce of that year and store them in your cities 29 so the descendants of Levi—who have no tribal allotment as you do—foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your cities may come, eat, and be satisfied. That way, the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.”[g]
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 14:2 Lit. peoples
- Deuteronomy 14:21 I.e., that dies of itself or in the wild
- Deuteronomy 14:21 Lit. in your gates
- Deuteronomy 14:25 Lit. bind the money with your hand
- Deuteronomy 14:27 Lit. gates
- Deuteronomy 14:27 Lit. a portion and inheritance
- Deuteronomy 14:29 . Lit. in the work of your hand that you do
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