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.

“You must not eat any detestable animals that are ceremonially unclean. These are the animals[a] you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the addax, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

“You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud, but if the animal doesn’t have both, it may not be eaten. So you may not eat the camel, the hare, or the hyrax.[b] They chew the cud but do not have split hooves, so they are ceremonially unclean for you. And you may not eat the pig. It has split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses.

“Of all the marine animals, you may eat whatever has both fins and scales. 10 You may not, however, eat marine animals that do not have both fins and scales. They are ceremonially unclean for you.

11 “You may eat any bird that is ceremonially clean. 12 These are the birds you may not eat: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 13 the kite, the falcon, buzzards of all kinds, 14 ravens of all kinds, 15 the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the barn owl, 17 the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.

19 “All winged insects that walk along the ground are ceremonially unclean for you and may not be eaten. 20 But you may eat any winged bird or insect that is ceremonially clean.

21 “You must not eat anything that has died a natural death. You may give it to a foreigner living in your town, or you may sell it to a stranger. But do not eat it yourselves, for you are set apart as holy to the Lord your God.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

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Footnotes

  1. 14:4 The identification of some of the animals and birds listed in this chapter is uncertain.
  2. 14:7 Or coney, or rock badger.