Leviticus 11
English Standard Version
Clean and Unclean Animals
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, (A)These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. 3 Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 4 Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 5 And the (B)rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 6 And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 7 And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, (C)is unclean to you. 8 You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.
9 “These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. 10 But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is (D)detestable to you. 11 You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. 12 Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.
13 “And these you shall detest among the birds;[a] they shall not be eaten; they are (E)detestable: (F)the eagle,[b] the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 14 the kite, (G)the falcon of any kind, 15 every raven of any kind, 16 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the (H)hawk of any kind, 17 the (I)little owl, the cormorant, the (J)short-eared owl, 18 the barn owl, the (K)tawny owl, the carrion vulture, 19 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and (L)the bat.
20 “All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you. 21 Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground. 22 Of them you may eat: (M)the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind. 23 But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.
24 “And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 25 and whoever carries any part of their carcass (N)shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26 Every animal that 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 walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 28 and he who carries their carcass (O)shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
29 “And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, (P)the mouse, the great lizard of any kind, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31 These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. 32 And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or a garment or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose. (Q)It must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean. 33 And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you (R)shall break it. 34 Any food in it that could be eaten, on which water comes, shall be unclean. And all drink that could be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean. 35 And everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean. Whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean and shall remain unclean for you. 36 Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them shall be unclean. 37 And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean, 38 but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
39 “And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 40 and (S)whoever eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
41 (T)“Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten. 42 Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable. 43 (U)You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them. 44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and (V)be holy, for I am holy. (W)You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45 (X)For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. (Y)You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
46 This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, 47 (Z)to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 11:13 Or things that fly; compare Genesis 1:20
- Leviticus 11:13 The identity of many of these birds is uncertain
Leviticus 11
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Clean and Unclean Land Animals
11 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “Tell the Israelites: You may eat(A) all these kinds of land animals.(B) 3 You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud. 4 But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves you are not to eat these:
the camel,(C) though it chews the cud,
does not have divided hooves—it is unclean for you;
5 the hyrax,[a](D) though it chews the cud,
does not have hooves—it is unclean for you;
6 the hare, though it chews the cud,
does not have hooves—it is unclean for you;
7 the pig, though it has divided hooves,
does not chew the cud—it is unclean for you.
8 Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses—they are unclean for you.(E)
Clean and Unclean Aquatic Animals
9 “This is what you may eat from all that is in the water: You may eat everything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or streams. 10 But these are to be detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales among all the swarming things and other living creatures(F) in the water. 11 They are to remain detestable to you; you must not eat any of their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. 12 Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales will be detestable to you.
Unclean Birds
13 “You are to detest these birds. They must not be eaten because they are detestable:
the eagle,[b](G) the bearded[c] vulture,
the black vulture,[d] 14 the kite,[e]
any kind of falcon,[f](H)
15 every kind of raven, 16 the ostrich,[g]
the short-eared owl,[h] the gull,[i]
any kind of hawk,(I)
17 the little[j] owl, the cormorant,[k]
the long-eared owl,[l](J)
18 the white[m] owl, the desert owl,[n](K)
the osprey,[o] 19 the stork,[p]
any kind of heron,[q]
the hoopoe, and the bat.
Clean and Unclean Flying Insects
20 “All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. 21 But you may eat these kinds of all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground. 22 You may eat these:
any kind of locust,(L) katydid, cricket, and grasshopper.
23 All other winged insects that have four feet are to be detestable to you.
Purification after Touching Dead Animals
24 “These will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean(M) until evening, 25 and whoever carries any of their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.(N) 26 All animals that have hooves but do not have a divided hoof and do not chew the cud are unclean for you. Whoever touches them becomes unclean. 27 All the four-footed animals(O) that walk on their paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, 28 and anyone who carries their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.
29 “These creatures that swarm(P) on the ground are unclean for you:
the weasel,[r] the mouse,(Q)
any kind of large lizard,[s]
30 the gecko, the monitor lizard,[t]
the common lizard,[u] the skink,[v]
and the chameleon.[w]
31 These are unclean for you among all the swarming creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. 32 When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean—any item of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth,(R) or any implement used for work. It is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean. 33 If any of them falls into any clay pot, everything in it will become unclean; you must break it. 34 Any edible food(S) coming into contact with that unclean water will become unclean, and any drinkable liquid in any container will become unclean. 35 Anything one of their carcasses falls on will become unclean. If it is an oven or stove, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you. 36 A spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but someone who touches a carcass in it will become unclean. 37 If one of their carcasses falls on any seed that is to be sown, it is clean; 38 but if water has been put on the seed and one of their carcasses falls on it, it is unclean for you.
39 “If one of the animals that you use for food dies,[x] anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean until evening. 40 Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. Anyone who carries its carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.
Unclean Swarming Creatures
41 “All the creatures that swarm on the earth are detestable; they must not be eaten. 42 Do not eat any of the creatures that swarm on the earth, anything that moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet,[y] for they are detestable. 43 Do not become contaminated by any creature that swarms; do not become unclean or defiled by them. 44 For I am Yahweh your God,(T) so you must consecrate yourselves(U) and be holy because I am holy.(V) You must not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God,(W) so you must be holy because I am holy.(X)
46 “This is the law concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that swarm on the ground, 47 in order to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the animals(Y) that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 11:5 A rabbit-like animal
- Leviticus 11:13 Or griffon-vulture
- Leviticus 11:13 Or black
- Leviticus 11:13 Or the osprey, or the bearded vulture
- Leviticus 11:14 Or hawk
- Leviticus 11:14 Or buzzards, or hawks
- Leviticus 11:16 Or eagle owl
- Leviticus 11:16 Or the night hawk, or the screech owl
- Leviticus 11:16 Or long-eared owl
- Leviticus 11:17 Or tawny
- Leviticus 11:17 Or fisher owl, or pelican
- Leviticus 11:17 Or the ibis
- Leviticus 11:18 Or little
- Leviticus 11:18 Or the pelican, or the horned owl
- Leviticus 11:18 Or Egyptian vulture
- Leviticus 11:19 Or heron
- Leviticus 11:19 Or cormorant, or hawk
- Leviticus 11:29 Or mole rat, or rat
- Leviticus 11:29 Or of thorn-tailed or dabb lizard, or of crocodile
- Leviticus 11:30 Or the spotted lizard, or the chameleon
- Leviticus 11:30 Or the gecko, or the newt, or the salamander
- Leviticus 11:30 Or sand lizard, or newt, or snail
- Leviticus 11:30 Or salamander, or mole
- Leviticus 11:39 Dies of itself or by predators; this does not apply to animals slaughtered for food.
- Leviticus 11:42 Lit fours, to anything multiplying pairs of feet
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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