Clean and Unclean Foods

“You must not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat:

oxen, sheep, goats,

deer, gazelles, roe deer,

wild goats, ibexes, antelopes,

and mountain sheep.

You may eat any animal that has hooves divided in two and chews the cud.[a] But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves, you are not to eat these:

camels, hares, and hyraxes,

though they chew the cud, they do not have hooves—

they are unclean for you;

and pigs, though they have hooves, they do not chew the cud—

they are unclean for you.

Do not eat their meat or touch their carcasses.(A)

“You may eat everything from the water that has fins and scales, 10 but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales—it is unclean for you.(B)

11 “You may eat every clean bird, 12 but these are the ones you may not eat:

eagles, bearded vultures,

black vultures, 13 the kites,

any kind of falcon,[b]

14 every kind of raven, 15 ostriches,

short-eared owls, gulls,

any kind of hawk,

16 little owls, long-eared owls,

barn owls, 17 eagle owls,

ospreys, cormorants, 18 storks,

any kind of heron,

hoopoes, and bats.[c](C)

19 All winged insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. 20 But you may eat every clean flying creature.(D)

21 “You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to a resident alien within your city gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

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Footnotes

  1. 14:6 The Hb does not specify chewing the cud, but bringing up partially digested food and swallowing it again.
  2. 14:13 Some Hb mss, Sam, LXX; other Hb mss, Vg read the falcon, the various kinds of kite
  3. 14:5–18 The identification of some of these animals is uncertain.

Refrain from Unclean Food

“You must not eat any detestable food. These are the animals that you may eat: ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. You may eat every animal with a divided hoof—those with split cloven hooves—that chews the cud. 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. 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.

“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,[a] but you may give it to the alien in your cities[b] 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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 14:21 I.e., that dies of itself or in the wild
  2. Deuteronomy 14:21 Lit. in your gates