Leviticus 11
11
Ceremonially Clean and Unclean Animals
1Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.
“Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. 3You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. 4You may not, however, eat the following animals#11:4 The identification of some of the animals, birds, and insects in this chapter is uncertain. that have split hooves or that chew the cud, but not both. The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. 5The hyrax#11:5 Or coney, or rock badger. chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. 6The hare chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. 7The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. 8You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you.
9“Of all the marine animals, these are ones you may use for food. You may eat anything from the water if it has both fins and scales, whether taken from salt water or from streams. 10But you must never eat animals from the sea or from rivers that do not have both fins and scales. They are detestable to you. This applies both to little creatures that live in shallow water and to all creatures that live in deep water. 11They will always be detestable to you. You must never eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies. 12Any marine animal that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you.
13“These are the birds that are detestable to you. You must never eat them: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 14the kite, falcons of all kinds, 15ravens of all kinds, 16the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds, 17the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18the barn owl, the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture, 19the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20“You must not eat winged insects that walk along the ground; they are detestable to you. 21You may, however, eat winged insects that walk along the ground and have jointed legs so they can jump. 22The insects you are permitted to eat include all kinds of locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. 23All other winged insects that walk along the ground are detestable to you.
24“The following creatures will make you ceremonially unclean. If any of you touch their carcasses, you will be defiled until evening. 25If you pick up their carcasses, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening.
26“Any animal that has split hooves that are not evenly divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. If you touch the carcass of such an animal, you will be defiled. 27Of the animals that walk on all fours, those that have paws are unclean. If you touch the carcass of such an animal, you will be defiled until evening. 28If you pick up its carcass, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening. These animals are unclean for you.
29“Of the small animals that scurry along the ground, these are unclean for you: the mole rat, the rat, large lizards of all kinds, 30the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31All these small animals are unclean for you. If any of you touch the dead body of such an animal, you will be defiled until evening. 32If such an animal dies and falls on something, that object will be unclean. This is true whether the object is made of wood, cloth, leather, or burlap. Whatever its use, you must dip it in water, and it will remain defiled until evening. After that, it will be ceremonially clean and may be used again.
33“If such an animal falls into a clay pot, everything in the pot will be defiled, and the pot must be smashed. 34If the water from such a container spills on any food, the food will be defiled. And any beverage in such a container will be defiled. 35Any object on which the carcass of such an animal falls will be defiled. If it is an oven or hearth, it must be destroyed, for it is defiled, and you must treat it accordingly.
36“However, if the carcass of such an animal falls into a spring or a cistern, the water will still be clean. But anyone who touches the carcass will be defiled. 37If the carcass falls on seed grain to be planted in the field, the seed will still be considered clean. 38But if the seed is wet when the carcass falls on it, the seed will be defiled.
39“If an animal you are permitted to eat dies and you touch its carcass, you will be defiled until evening. 40If you eat any of its meat or carry away its carcass, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening.
41“All small animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them. 42This includes all animals that slither along on their bellies, as well as those with four legs and those with many feet. All such animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them. 43Do not defile yourselves by touching them. You must not make yourselves ceremonially unclean because of them. 44For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves with any of these small animals that scurry along the ground. 45For I, the Lord, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.
46“These are the instructions regarding land animals, birds, marine creatures, and animals that scurry along the ground. 47By these instructions you will know what is unclean and clean, and which animals may be eaten and which may not be eaten.”
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Leviticus 11: NLT
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Leviticus 11
11
Rules About Eating Meat
1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2“Tell the Israelites: These are the animals you can eat: 3If an animal has hooves that are split into two parts, and if that animal also chews the cud, then you may eat the meat from that animal.
4-6“Some animals chew the cud, but they don’t have split hooves. Don’t eat these animals. Camels, rock badgers, and rabbits are like that, so they are unclean for you. 7Other animals have hooves that are split into two parts, but they don’t chew the cud. Don’t eat these animals. Pigs are like that, so they are unclean for you. 8Don’t eat the meat from these animals. Don’t even touch their dead bodies! They are unclean for you.
Rules About Sea Food
9“You may eat everything that lives in the sea or in a river that has fins and scales. 10-11But you must not eat anything that lives in the sea or in a river and does not have fins and scales. Just the thought of eating such a creature should make you sick. This will never change. So don’t ever eat meat from anything like that. Don’t even touch its dead body! 12It is a sickening thought for you to touch anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales.
Birds That Must Not Be Eaten
13“You must also treat some birds as things that are wrong to eat. Stay away from them. It is a sickening thought for you to eat any of these birds: eagles, vultures, buzzards, 14kites, all kinds of falcons, 15all kinds of black birds, 16ostriches, nighthawks, sea gulls, all kinds of hawks, 17owls, cormorants, great owls, 18water hens, pelicans, carrion vultures, 19storks, all kinds of herons, hoopoes, and bats.
Rules About Eating Insects
20“Don’t eat insects that have wings and crawl.#11:20 crawl Literally, “walk on four feet.” Also in verse 23. Even the thought of eating them should make you sick! 21But you may eat insects if they have legs with joints above their feet so that they can jump. 22You may also eat all kinds of locusts, all kinds of winged locusts, all kinds of crickets, and all kinds of grasshoppers.
23“But stay away from all the other insects that have wings and crawl. 24They will make you unclean. If you touch the dead bodies of these insects, you will become unclean until evening. 25If you pick up one of these dead insects, you must wash your clothes. You will be unclean until evening.
More Rules About Animals
26-27“Some animals have split hooves, but the hooves don’t make exactly two parts. Some animals don’t chew the cud. Some animals don’t have hooves—they walk on their paws.#11:26-27 paws The soft feet with claws on certain animals. All these animals are unclean for you. If you touch them, you will become unclean until evening. 28If you pick up the dead bodies of these unclean animals, you must wash your clothes. You will be unclean until evening. These animals are unclean for you.
Rules About Crawling Animals
29“These small animals are unclean for you: moles, mice, all kinds of great lizards, 30geckos, crocodiles, lizards, sand reptiles, and chameleons. 31Whoever touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening.
Rules About Unclean Animals
32“If any of these unclean animals dies and falls on something, that thing will become unclean. It might be something made from wood, cloth, leather, or sackcloth. Whatever it is or is used for, it must be washed with water. It will be unclean until evening. Then it will become clean again. 33If any of these unclean animals dies and falls into a clay dish, anything in the dish will become unclean. And you must break the dish. 34If water from the unclean clay dish touches any food, that food will become unclean. Any drink in the unclean dish will become unclean. 35If any part of a dead, unclean animal falls on something, that thing is unclean. It may be a clay oven or a clay baking pan. It must be broken into pieces. These things will remain unclean. They will always be unclean for you.
36“A spring or a well that collects water will remain clean, but anyone who touches the dead bodies of any unclean animal in that water will become unclean. 37If any part of a dead, unclean animal falls on seed that is to be planted, that seed is still clean. 38But if you put water on some seed and if any part of a dead, unclean animal falls on those seeds, they are unclean for you.
39“Also, if an animal which you use for food dies, whoever touches its dead body will be unclean until evening. 40If you eat meat from this animal’s body, you must wash your clothes. You will be unclean until evening. If you pick up the dead body of the animal, you must wash your clothes. You will be unclean until evening.
41“You must treat all the crawling animals that live on the dirt as disgusting things that you must not eat. 42You must not eat any of the reptiles that crawl on their bellies or that walk on all four feet or that have many feet. Don’t eat these animals! 43Don’t let them make you filthy.#11:43 filthy Or “hated.” Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. You must not become unclean, 44because I am the Lord your God. I am holy, so you should keep yourselves holy. Don’t make yourselves unclean with these crawling things. 45I, the Lord, brought you out of Egypt so that you could be my special people and I could be your God. I am holy, so you must be holy too.”
46These are the rules about all the tame animals, birds, all the animals in the sea, and all the animals that crawl on the ground. 47These rules will help the people know which animals are unclean and which animals they are allowed to eat and which ones they cannot eat.
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