Leviticus 11
Modern English Version
Clean and Unclean Foods(A)
11 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them: 2 Speak to the children of Israel, saying: These are the living things which you shall eat among all the animals that are on the earth. 3 Whatever animal has a parted hoof (that is, split-hoofed), and chews the cud among the animals, that one you shall eat.
4 Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud or of those that have a divided hoof: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not have a divided hoof, is unclean to you; 5 the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not have a divided hoof, is unclean to you; 6 the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have a divided hoof, is unclean to you; 7 the pig, though it does have a divided hoof (that is, split-hoofed), yet it does not chew the cud, is unclean to you; 8 you shall not eat of their flesh, and their carcasses you must not touch; they are unclean to you.
9 These you shall eat of all that are in the waters: Whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas and in the rivers, these you shall eat; 10 all that do not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, from all that move in the waters and from any living thing that is in the waters, they are detestable to you; 11 they shall be detestable to you. You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. 12 Whatever has no fins or scales in the waters is detestable to you.
13 These you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, and the black vulture, 14 the kite, and buzzard of any kind, 15 the raven of any kind, 16 and the eagle owl, the short-eared and long-eared owls, and the hawk of any kind, 17 and the little owl, the cormorant, and the screech owl, 18 and the white owl, the scops owl, and the osprey, 19 and the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20 All flying insects that walk, moving on all fours, shall be detestable to you. 21 Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet with which to hop on the ground. 22 Even of these you may eat: 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 flying insects that have four feet shall be detestable to you.
24 And by these you shall be unclean. Whoever touches the carcass of these shall be unclean until the evening.
Unclean Animals
25 Whoever carries any of the carcasses of these shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26 The carcass of every animal that divides the hoof but is not completely split-hoofed nor chews the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. 27 Whatever animal that walks on its paws, among all manner of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. 28 He who carries the carcass of these shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
29 These also shall be unclean to you among the crawling things that move on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, and the great lizard of any kind, 30 and the gecko, the lizard, the wall gecko, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31 These are unclean to you among all that crawl. 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 be an article of wood or clothing or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose. It must be put in water. And it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean. 33 Every clay vessel into which any of these falls, everything in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it. 34 Any food in it that may be eaten on which water is poured shall be unclean, and any drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. 35 Everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven or stove, it shall be broken to pieces. They are unclean and shall be unclean to you. 36 Nevertheless a fountain or cistern where there is plenty of water shall be clean, but whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean. 37 If any part of their carcass falls on any grain seed that is to be sown, it shall be clean. 38 But if any water is put on the seed, and any part of their carcass fall on it, it shall be unclean to you.
39 If any animal from which you may eat dies, whoever touches the carcass shall be unclean until the evening. 40 And the person who eats of the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. The person who carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
41 Every crawling thing that moves on the ground shall be detestable. It shall not be eaten. 42 Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet from any crawling things that move on the earth, you shall not eat them for they are detestable. 43 You shall not make yourselves detestable with any crawling thing that moves, nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should thereby be defiled by them. 44 For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of crawling thing that moves on the ground. 45 For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.
46 This is the law for the animals, and the fowls, and every living creature that moves in the waters, and every creature that crawls on the ground, 47 to differentiate between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.
Leviticus 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
III. Laws Regarding Ritual Purity[a]
Chapter 11
Clean and Unclean Meats.[b] 1 (A)The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 Speak to the Israelites and tell them: Of all land animals these are the ones you may eat: 3 Any animal that has hoofs you may eat, provided it is cloven-footed and chews the cud. 4 But you shall not eat(B) any of the following from among those that only chew the cud or only have hoofs: the camel, which indeed chews the cud, but does not have hoofs and is therefore unclean for you; 5 the rock hyrax,[c] which indeed chews the cud, but does not have hoofs and is therefore unclean for you; 6 the hare, which indeed chews the cud, but does not have hoofs and is therefore unclean for you; 7 and the pig,(C) which does indeed have hoofs and is cloven-footed, but does not chew the cud and is therefore unclean for you. 8 You shall not eat their meat, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
9 Of the various creatures that live in the water, you may eat the following: whatever in the seas or in river waters that has both fins and scales you may eat.(D) 10 But of the creatures that swarm in the water or of animals that otherwise live in the water, whether in the sea or in the rivers, all those that lack either fins or scales are loathsome for you, 11 and shall always be loathsome to you. Their meat you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall loathe. 12 Every water creature that lacks fins or scales is loathsome for you.
13 Of the birds,[d] these you shall loathe; they shall not be eaten, they are loathsome: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 14 the kite, the various species of falcons, 15 the various species of crows, 16 the eagle owl, the kestrel, the long-eared owl, the various species of hawks, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the screech owl, 18 the barn owl, the horned owl, the osprey, 19 the stork, the various species of herons, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20 The various winged insects that walk on all fours are loathsome for you. 21 But of the various winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have legs jointed above their feet for leaping on the ground; 22 hence of these you may eat the following: the various kinds of locusts, the various kinds of bald locusts, the various kinds of crickets, and the various kinds of grasshoppers.(E) 23 All other winged insects that have four legs are loathsome for you.
24 You become unclean by the following—anyone who touches their carcasses shall be unclean until evening,(F) 25 and anyone who carries any part of their carcasses shall wash his garments and be unclean until evening— 26 by all hoofed animals that are not cloven-footed or do not chew the cud; they are unclean for you; anyone who touches them becomes unclean. 27 Also by the various quadrupeds that walk on paws; they are unclean for you; anyone who touches their carcasses shall be unclean until evening, 28 and anyone who carries their carcasses shall wash his garments and be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.
29 Of the creatures that swarm on the ground, the following are unclean for you: the rat, the mouse, the various kinds of lizards, 30 the gecko, the spotted lizard, the agama, the skink, and the chameleon. 31 Among the various swarming creatures, these are unclean for you. Everyone who touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening. 32 Everything on which one of them falls when dead becomes unclean, including any article of wood, cloth, leather or goat hair—any article of which use can be made. It must be immersed in water and remain unclean until evening, when it again becomes clean. 33 Should any of these creatures fall into a clay vessel, everything in it becomes unclean, and the vessel itself you must break. 34 Any food that can be eaten which makes contact with water, and any liquid that may be drunk, in any such vessel become unclean. 35 Any object on which any part of their carcasses falls becomes unclean; if it is an oven or stove, this must be broken to pieces; they are unclean and shall always be unclean to you. 36 However, a spring or a cistern for collecting water remains clean; but whoever touches such an animal’s carcass becomes unclean. 37 If any part of their carcasses falls on any sort of grain that is to be sown, it remains clean; 38 but if the grain has become moistened, it becomes unclean to you when any part of their carcasses falls on it.
39 [e](G)When one of the animals that you could otherwise eat dies of itself, anyone who touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening; 40 and anyone who eats any part of its carcass shall wash his garments and be unclean until evening;(H) so also, anyone who carries its carcass shall wash his garments and be unclean until evening.
41 All the creatures that swarm on the ground are loathsome and shall not be eaten. 42 Whether it crawls on its belly, goes on all fours, or has many legs—any creature that swarms on the earth—you shall not eat them; they are loathsome. 43 Do not make yourselves loathsome by any swarming creature nor defile yourselves with them and so become unclean by them.(I) 44 For I, the Lord, am your God. You shall make and keep yourselves holy,[f] because I am holy.(J) You shall not make yourselves unclean, then, by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. 45 Since I, the Lord, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt that I might be your God, you shall be holy, because I am holy.
46 This is the instruction for land animals, birds, and all the creatures that move about in the water, as well as any animal that swarms on the ground, 47 that you may distinguish between the clean and the unclean, and between creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.(K)
Footnotes
- 11:1–15:33 Priestly legislation manifests two types of impurity or uncleanness: tolerated and prohibited. Prohibited impurity arises from various sins (e.g., 4:1–5; 5:2–3; 18:6–23; 20:2–5; Nm 5:13–14; 6:6–7). Tolerated impurity has three main sources: certain dead bodies (animal and human; cf. Lv 11 and Nm 19), various regular and abnormal genital discharges (Lv 12; 15), and diseases (specifically “scaly infection,” chaps. 13–14). An additional tolerated impurity is that generated by the cult in order to rectify the effect of these impurities or sins (cf. chap. 4; 16:26, 28).
- 11:1–47 Apart from the introduction and conclusion (vv. 1–2a, 46–47), this chapter has three sections: (1) prohibitions against eating certain land, water, and air animals (vv. 2b–23); (2) consequences of contact with various animals (vv. 24–41); (3) a prohibition against eating small land animals, which is motivated by the requirement that Israel be holy as God is holy (vv. 41–45). These animals are impure only when dead. Cf. Dt 14:3–21.
- 11:5–6 According to modern zoology, the rock hyrax (Hyrax syriacus) is classified as an ungulate, and the hare as a rodent; neither is a ruminant. They appear to chew their food as the true ruminants do, and it is upon this appearance that the classification in the text is based.
- 11:13–23, 30 Birds: the term is broader, including all animals that fly (including bats, v. 19, and flying insects, vv. 20–23). The identification of the various Hebrew names for these birds and reptiles is in many cases uncertain.
- 11:39–40 These animals create uncleanness, but are not prohibited as food (cf. 17:15–16). Priests who have a higher degree of holiness than other Israelites may not eat these animals (22:8; cf. Ez 44:31). Cf. Ex 22:30; Dt 14:21.
- 11:44–45 Keep yourselves holy…you shall be holy: a similar idea is expressed in 20:25–26. There, distinguishing between the animals is compared to God’s distinguishing between the peoples and choosing Israel.
Leviticus 11
New King James Version
Foods Permitted and Forbidden(A)
11 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, (B)‘These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth: 3 Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat. 4 Nevertheless these you shall (C)not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is [a]unclean to you; 5 the [b]rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is [c]unclean to you; 6 the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 7 and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, (D)is unclean to you. 8 Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. (E)They are unclean to you.
9 (F)‘These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers—that you may eat. 10 But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are [d]an (G)abomination to you. 11 They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. 12 Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales—that shall be an abomination to you.
13 (H)‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, 14 the kite, and the falcon after its kind; 15 every raven after its kind, 16 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; 17 the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl; 18 the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture; 19 the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20 ‘All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you. 21 Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth. 22 These you may eat: (I)the locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. 23 But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.
Unclean Animals
24 ‘By these you shall become [e]unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening; 25 whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them (J)shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening: 26 The carcass of any animal which divides the foot, but is not cloven-hoofed or does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean. 27 And whatever goes on its paws, among all kinds of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you. Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening. 28 Whoever carries any such carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. It is unclean to you.
29 ‘These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the mole, (K)the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind; 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31 These are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever (L)touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening. 32 Anything on which any of them falls, when they are dead shall be [f]unclean, whether it is any item of wood or clothing or skin or sack, whatever item it is, in which any work is done, (M)it must be put in water. And it shall be unclean until evening; then it shall be clean. 33 Any (N)earthen vessel into which any of them falls (O)you shall break; and whatever is in it shall be unclean: 34 in such a vessel, any edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean, and any drink that may be drunk from it becomes unclean. 35 And everything on which a part of any such carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven or cooking stove, it shall be broken down; for they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. 36 Nevertheless a spring or a cistern, in which there is plenty of water, shall be clean, but whatever touches any such carcass becomes unclean. 37 And if a part of any such carcass falls on any planting seed which is to be sown, it remains clean. 38 But if water is put on the seed, and if a part of any such carcass falls on it, it becomes [g]unclean to you.
39 ‘And if any animal which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be (P)unclean until evening. 40 (Q)He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.
41 ‘And every creeping thing that creeps on the earth shall be [h]an abomination. It shall not be eaten. 42 Whatever crawls on its belly, whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth—these you shall not eat, for they are an abomination. 43 (R)You shall not make [i]yourselves [j]abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them. 44 For I am the Lord your (S)God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and (T)you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 45 (U)For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. (V)You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
46 ‘This is the law [k]of the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, 47 (W)to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.’ ”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 11:4 impure
- Leviticus 11:5 rock badger
- Leviticus 11:5 impure
- Leviticus 11:10 detestable
- Leviticus 11:24 impure
- Leviticus 11:32 impure
- Leviticus 11:38 impure
- Leviticus 11:41 detestable
- Leviticus 11:43 Lit. your souls
- Leviticus 11:43 impure
- Leviticus 11:46 concerning
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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