Clean and Unclean Land Animals

11 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: “Tell the Israelites: You may eat(A) all these kinds of land animals.(B) You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud. But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves you are not to eat these:

camels,(C) though they chew the cud,

do not have divided hooves—they are unclean for you;

hyraxes,(D) though they chew the cud,

do not have hooves—they are unclean for you;

hares, though they chew the cud,

do not have hooves—they are unclean for you;

pigs, though they have divided hooves,

do not chew the cud—they are unclean for you.

Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses—they are unclean for you.(E)

Clean and Unclean Aquatic Animals

“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 abhorrent 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 abhorrent to you; you must not eat any of their meat, and you must abhor their carcasses. 12 Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales will be abhorrent to you.

Unclean Birds

13 “You are to abhor these birds. They must not be eaten because they are abhorrent:

eagles,[a](G) bearded vultures,

Egyptian vultures,[b] 14 kites,[c]

any kind of falcon,[d](H)

15 every kind of raven, 16 ostriches,[e]

short-eared owls, gulls,[f]

any kind of hawk,(I)

17 little[g] owls, cormorants,[h]

long-eared owls,[i](J)

18 barn[j] owls, eagle owls,[k](K)

ospreys, 19 storks,[l]

any kind of heron,[m]

hoopoes, and bats.

Clean and Unclean Flying Insects

20 “All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be abhorrent 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 abhorrent 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 is to 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 is to 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:

weasels,[n] mice,(Q)

any kind of large lizard,[o]

30 geckos, monitor lizards,[p]

common lizards,[q] skinks,[r]

and chameleons.[s]

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 are to 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 is to 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, anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean until evening. 40 Anyone who eats some of its carcass is to 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 abhorrent; 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,[t] for they are abhorrent. 43 Do not become contaminated by any creature that swarms; do not become unclean or defiled by them. 44 For I am the Lord your God,(T) so you must consecrate yourselves(U) and be holy because I am holy.(V) Do not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am the Lord, 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.”

Purification after Childbirth

12 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites: When a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a male child,(Z) she will be unclean seven days, as she is during the days of her menstrual impurity.(AA) The flesh of his foreskin(AB) must be circumcised(AC) on the eighth day.(AD) She will continue in purification(AE) from her bleeding(AF) for thirty-three days. She must not touch any holy thing or go into the sanctuary until completing her days of purification. But if she gives birth to a female child, she will be unclean for two weeks as she is during her menstrual impurity. She will continue in purification from her bleeding for sixty-six days.

“When her days of purification are complete, whether for a son or daughter, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin[u] offering. He will present them before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf; she will be clean from her discharge of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or female. But if she doesn’t have sufficient means[v](AG) for a sheep, she may take two turtledoves or two young pigeons,(AH) one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.”

Footnotes

  1. 11:13 Or griffon-vultures
  2. 11:13 Or ospreys, or bearded vultures
  3. 11:14 Or hawks
  4. 11:14 Or buzzards, or hawks
  5. 11:16 Or eagle owls
  6. 11:16 Or long-eared owls
  7. 11:17 Or tawny
  8. 11:17 Or pelicans
  9. 11:17 Or ibis
  10. 11:18 Or little
  11. 11:18 Or pelicans, or horned owls
  12. 11:19 Or herons
  13. 11:19 Or cormorants, or hawks
  14. 11:29 Or mole rats, or rats
  15. 11:29 Or of thorn-tailed, or dabb lizard, or of crocodile
  16. 11:30 Or spotted lizards, or chameleons
  17. 11:30 Or geckos, or newts, or salamanders
  18. 11:30 Or sand lizards, or newts, or snails
  19. 11:30 Or salamanders, or moles
  20. 11:42 Lit fours, to anything multiplying pairs of feet
  21. 12:6 Or purification, also in v. 8
  22. 12:8 Lit if her hand cannot obtain what is sufficient

Psalm 13

A Plea for Deliverance

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?(A)
How long will I store up anxious concerns[a] within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?(B)

Consider me and answer, Lord my God.
Restore brightness to my eyes;(C)
otherwise, I will sleep in death.
My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”
and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.(D)

But I have trusted in your faithful love;(E)
my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.(F)
I will sing to the Lord
because he has treated me generously.(G)

Psalm 14

A Portrait of Sinners

For the choir director. Of David.

The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.”(H)
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race[b](I)
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.(J)

Will evildoers never understand?
They consume my people as they consume bread;(K)
they do not call on the Lord.(L)

Then[c] they will be filled with dread,
for God is with those who are[d] righteous.(M)
You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed,(N)
but the Lord is his refuge.(O)

Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,[e]
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.(P)

Footnotes

  1. 13:2 Or up counsels
  2. 14:2 Or the descendants of Adam
  3. 14:5 Or There
  4. 14:5 Lit with the generation of the
  5. 14:7 Or restores his captive people

26 Like snow in summer and rain at harvest,(A)
honor is inappropriate for a fool.(B)

Like a flitting sparrow or a fluttering swallow,(C)
an undeserved curse goes nowhere.(D)

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,(E)
and a rod for the backs of fools.(F)
Don’t answer a fool according to his foolishness(G)
or you’ll be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his foolishness(H)
or he’ll become wise in his own eyes.(I)
The one who sends a message by a fool’s hand(J)
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.(K)
A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like lame legs that hang limp.
Giving honor to a fool
is like binding a stone in a sling.
A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like a stick with thorns,
brandished by[a] the hand of a drunkard.
10 The one who hires a fool or who hires those passing by
is like an archer who wounds everyone indiscriminately.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so also a fool repeats his foolishness.(L)
12 Do you see a person who is wise in his own eyes?(M)
There is more hope for a fool than for him.(N)

13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road—
a lion in the public square!” (O)
14 A door turns on its hinges,
and a slacker, on his bed.(P)
15 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;
he is too weary to bring it to his mouth!(Q)
16 In his own eyes, a slacker is wiser(R)
than seven who can answer sensibly.

17 A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that’s not his
is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.
18 Like a madman who throws flaming darts and deadly arrows,(S)
19 so is the person who deceives his neighbor
and says, “I was only joking!”

20 Without wood, fire goes out;
without a gossip, conflict dies down.(T)
21 As charcoal for embers and wood for fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.(U)
22 A gossip’s words are like choice food
that goes down to one’s innermost being.[b](V)

23 Smooth[c] lips with an evil heart
are like glaze on an earthen vessel.(W)
24 A hateful person disguises himself with his speech
and harbors deceit within.
25 When he speaks graciously, don’t believe him,
for there are seven detestable things in his heart.(X)
26 Though his hatred is concealed by deception,
his evil will be revealed in the assembly.
27 The one who digs a pit will fall into it,
and whoever rolls a stone—
it will come back on him.(Y)
28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
and a flattering mouth causes ruin.

Footnotes

  1. 26:9 Lit thorn that goes up into
  2. 26:22 Lit to the chambers of the belly
  3. 26:23 LXX; MT reads Burning

The Day of the Lord

About the times and the seasons:(A) Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord(B) will come just like a thief(C) in the night. When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction(D) will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.(E) For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.(F) So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled(G) and put on the armor(H) of faith and love, and a helmet(I) of the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord(J) Jesus Christ,(K) 10 who died for us,(L) so that whether we are awake or asleep,(M) we may live together with him.(N) 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

Exhortations and Blessings

12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition(O) to those who labor among you and lead you[a] in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace(P) among yourselves. 14 And we exhort you, brothers and sisters:(Q) warn those who are idle,[b] comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient(R) with everyone. 15 See to it that no one repays evil for evil(S) to anyone,(T) but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.(U) 16 Rejoice(V) always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will(W) for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Don’t stifle the Spirit. 20 Don’t despise prophecies, 21 but test all things.(X) Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away(Y) from every kind of evil.

23 Now may the God of peace(Z) himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit,(AA) soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming(AB) of our Lord(AC) Jesus Christ.(AD) 24 He who calls(AE) you(AF) is faithful; he will do it. 25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us also. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters.(AG) 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Footnotes

  1. 5:12 Or care for you
  2. 5:14 Or who are disorderly, or who are undisciplined

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