Leviticus 11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Clean and Unclean Foods
11 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, 2 “Speak to the Israelites:
“From among all the land animals, these are the creatures that you may eat.(A) 3 Any animal that has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed and chews the cud—such you may eat. 4 But among those that chew the cud or have divided hoofs, you shall not eat the following: the camel, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. 5 The rock badger, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. 6 The hare, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. 7 The pig, for even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed, it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.(B) 8 Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.(C)
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 streams—such you may eat.(D) 10 But anything in the seas or the streams that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and among all the other living creatures that are in the waters—they are detestable to you,(E) 11 and detestable they shall remain. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall regard as detestable. 12 Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.
13 “These you shall regard as detestable among the birds. They shall not be eaten; they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, 14 the buzzard, the kite of any kind; 15 every raven of any kind; 16 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18 the water hen, the desert owl,[a] the carrion vulture, 19 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.[b]
20 “All winged insects that walk upon all fours are detestable to you. 21 But among the winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to leap on the ground. 22 Of them you may eat: locusts of every kind, bald locusts of every kind, crickets of every kind, and grasshoppers of every kind.(F) 23 But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.
Unclean Animals
24 “By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening, 25 and whoever carries any part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.(G) 26 Every animal that has divided hoofs but is not cleft-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean for you; everyone who touches one of them shall be unclean. 27 All that walk on their paws, among the animals that walk on all fours, are unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening, 28 and the one who carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean for you.
29 “These are unclean for you among the creatures that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, the mouse, lizards of every kind,(H) 30 the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31 These are unclean for you among all that swarm; whoever touches one of them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. 32 And anything upon which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether an article of wood or cloth or leather or sackcloth, any article that is used for any purpose; it shall be dipped in water, and it shall be unclean until the evening, and then it shall be clean.(I) 33 And if any of them falls into any clay vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break the vessel.(J) 34 Any food that could be eaten shall be unclean if water from any such vessel comes upon it, and any liquid that could be drunk shall be unclean if it was in any such vessel. 35 Everything on which any part of the carcass falls shall be unclean; whether an oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean and shall remain unclean for you. 36 But a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, while whatever touches the carcass in it shall be unclean. 37 If any part of their carcass falls upon any seed set aside for sowing, it is clean, 38 but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
39 “If an animal of which you may eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening. 40 Those who eat of its carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening, and those who carry the carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening.(K)
41 “All creatures that swarm upon the earth are detestable; they shall not be eaten.(L) 42 Whatever moves on its belly and whatever moves on all fours or whatever has many feet, all the creatures that swarm upon the earth you shall not eat, for they are detestable. 43 You shall not make yourselves detestable with any creature that swarms; you shall not defile yourselves with them and so become unclean.(M) 44 For I am the Lord your God; sanctify yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming creature that moves on the earth.(N) 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy.(O)
46 “This is the law pertaining to land animal and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms upon the earth, 47 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.”(P)
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Leviticus 11
Common English Bible
Dietary rules
11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 Say to the Israelites: These are the creatures that you are allowed to eat from the land animals: 3 You can eat any animal that has divided hoofs, completely split, and that rechews food. 4 But of animals that rechew food and have divided hoofs you must not eat the following: the camel—though it rechews food, it does not have divided hoofs, so it is unclean for you; 5 the rock badger—though it rechews food, it does not have divided hoofs, so it is unclean for you; 6 the hare—though it rechews food, it does not have divided hoofs, so it is unclean for you; 7 the pig—though it has completely divided hoofs, it does not rechew food, so it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat the flesh of these animals or touch their dead bodies; they are unclean for you.
9 You are allowed to eat the following from all water animals: You may eat anything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in sea or stream. 10 But anything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales—whether it be any of the swarming creatures in the water or any of the other living creatures in the water—is detestable to you 11 and must remain so. You must not eat their flesh, and you must detest their dead bodies. 12 Anything in the water that does not have fins or scales is detestable to you.
13 Of the birds, the following are the ones you must detest—they must not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the black vulture, the bearded vulture, 14 the kite, any kind of falcon, 15 any kind of raven, 16 the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the long-eared owl, any kind of hawk, 17 the tawny owl, the fisher owl, the screech owl, 18 the white owl, the scops owl, the osprey, 19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.[a]
20 Any flying insect that walks on four feet is detestable to you, 21 but you can eat four-footed flying insects that have jointed legs above their feet with which they hop on the ground. 22 Of these you can eat the following: any kind of migrating locust, any kind of bald locust, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper. 23 But every other flying insect that has four feet is detestable to you.
Unclean animals
24 You make yourself unclean by the following animals—whoever touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening, 25 and anyone who carries any part of their dead bodies must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening: 26 All animals that have divided hoofs, but they are not completely split, and that do not rechew food are unclean for you—whoever touches them will be unclean. 27 Of all the animals that walk on four feet, the ones that walk on their paws are unclean for you—anyone who touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. 28 Anyone who carries one of their dead bodies must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening; these animals are unclean for you.
29 The following are unclean for you among the small creatures that move about on the ground: the rat, the mouse, any kind of large lizard, 30 the gecko, the spotted lizard, the lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.[b] 31 Of all small moving creatures, these are unclean for you—anyone who touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. 32 Moreover, anything on which one of these creatures falls when it is dead will be unclean, whether it is wood, cloth, skin, or funeral clothing—any such item that can be used to do work. It must be put into water and will be unclean until evening. Then it will be clean again. 33 If any of these creatures fall into a pottery jar, everything inside it will be unclean; you must smash the pot. 34 If water from such a jar gets on any edible food, it will be unclean; any drinkable beverage in such a jar will be unclean. 35 Anything on which a part of these animals’ dead bodies might fall will be unclean. If it is an oven or stove, it must be destroyed; they are unclean for you and must remain that way. 36 Now, a spring or cistern that collects water is clean, but anyone who touches one of these animals’ dead bodies in it will be unclean.[c] 37 If any part of these animals’ dead bodies falls on seed that is to be planted, the seed is still clean. 38 But if water is poured on some seed and part of their dead bodies falls on it, it is unclean for you.
39 If one of the animals that you are allowed to eat dies naturally, anyone who touches its dead body will be unclean until evening. 40 Anyone who eats from the dead body must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening. Anyone who carries such a dead body must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening.
41 Every creature that swarms on the earth is detestable; it must not be eaten. 42 Among all such creatures that swarm on the earth, you must not eat anything that moves on its belly or anything that walks on four or more feet because they are detestable. 43 Do not make yourselves detestable by means of any swarming creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean with them or be made unclean by them. 44 I am the Lord your God. You must keep yourselves holy and be holy, because I am holy. You must not make yourselves unclean by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. 45 I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.
Conclusion concerning animals and diet
46 This concludes the Instruction concerning animals, birds, all creatures that live in water, and all the creatures that swarm on the earth, 47 in order to distinguish between the unclean and the clean and between creatures that can be eaten and those that cannot.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 11:19 Many of the species in 11:13-19 cannot be identified with certainty.
- Leviticus 11:30 Many of the species in 11:29-30 cannot be identified with certainty.
- Leviticus 11:36 Heb lacks in it.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible