Leviticus 11
11
Clean and Unclean Land Animals
1The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2“Tell the Israelites: You may eat # 11:2 Lv 11:1–23; Dt 14:3–21; Dn 1:3–16; Ac 10:9–16; 11:3; Rm 14:2; Gl 2:11–14 all these kinds of land animals. # 11:2 Dt 14:4–21; Ac 10:9–16; Rm 14:14 3You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud. 4But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves you are not to eat these:
camels, # 11:4 Gn 24:64; 31:34; Dt 14:7; Jr 2:23; Mt 19:24; 23:24; Mk 10:25; Lk 18:25 though they chew the cud,
do not have divided hooves — they are unclean for you;
5hyraxes, # 11:5 Dt 14:7; Ps 104:18; Pr 30:26 though they chew the cud,
do not have hooves — they are unclean for you;
6hares, though they chew the cud,
do not have hooves — they are unclean for you;
7pigs, though they have divided hooves,
do not chew the cud — they are unclean for you.
8Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses — they are unclean for you. # 11:8 Lv 7:21; 11:24–27; Is 52:11; 2Co 6:17
Clean and Unclean Aquatic Animals
9“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. 10But 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 # 11:10 Gn 1:20; 2:19; Lv 11:46 in the water. 11They are to remain abhorrent to you; you must not eat any of their meat, and you must abhor their carcasses. 12Everything 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, # 11:13 Or griffon-vultures,# 11:13 Dt 14:12; 28:49; 32:11; Pr 23:5; Is 40:31 bearded vultures,
Egyptian vultures, # 11:13 Or ospreys, or bearded vultures 14kites, # 11:14 Or hawks
any kind of falcon, # 11:14 Or buzzards, or hawks,# 11:14 Dt 14:13; Jb 28:7
15every kind of raven, 16ostriches, # 11:16 Or eagle owls
short-eared owls, gulls, # 11:16 Or long-eared owls
any kind of hawk, # 11:16 Dt 14:15; Jb 39:26
17little # 11:17 Or tawny owls, cormorants, # 11:17 Or pelicans
long-eared owls, # 11:17 Or ibis,# 11:17 Dt 14:16
18barn # 11:18 Or little owls, eagle owls, # 11:18 Or pelicans, or horned owls,# 11:18 Dt 14:17; Ps 102:6; Is 34:11; Zph 2:14
ospreys, 19storks, # 11:19 Or herons
any kind of heron, # 11:19 Or cormorants, or hawks
hoopoes, and bats.
Clean and Unclean Flying Insects
20“All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be abhorrent to you. 21But 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. 22You may eat these:
any kind of locust, # 11:22 Dt 28:38 katydid, cricket, and grasshopper.
23All 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 # 11:24 Ezk 22:3–4; 23:17; 44:25; Mc 2:10; Hg 2:13 until evening, 25and whoever carries any of their carcasses is to wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. # 11:25 Lv 16:28; 17:15–16; 22:6; Nm 19:7–10 26All 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. 27All the four-footed animals # 11:27 Rv 18:2 that walk on their paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, 28and 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 # 11:29 Ex 8:3 on the ground are unclean for you:
weasels, # 11:29 Or mole rats, or rats mice, # 11:29 1Sm 6:4–5,11,18; Is 66:17
any kind of large lizard, # 11:29 Or of thorn-tailed, or dabb lizard, or of crocodile
30geckos, monitor lizards, # 11:30 Or spotted lizards, or chameleons
common lizards, # 11:30 Or geckos, or newts, or salamanders skinks, # 11:30 Or sand lizards, or newts, or snails
and chameleons. # 11:30 Or salamanders, or moles
31These are unclean for you among all the swarming creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. 32When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean — any item of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, # 11:32 Gn 37:34 or any implement used for work. It is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean. 33If any of them falls into any clay pot, everything in it will become unclean; you are to break it. 34Any edible food # 11:34 Lv 26:5 coming into contact with that unclean water will become unclean, and any drinkable liquid in any container will become unclean. 35Anything 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. 36A spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but someone who touches a carcass in it will become unclean. 37If one of their carcasses falls on any seed that is to be sown, it is clean; 38but 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. 40Anyone 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. 42Do 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, # 11:42 Lit fours, to anything multiplying pairs of feet for they are abhorrent. 43Do not become contaminated by any creature that swarms; do not become unclean or defiled by them. 44For I am the Lord your God, # 11:44 Nm 15:41 so you must consecrate yourselves # 11:44 Ex 19:22; Lv 20:7; Nm 11:18; Ezk 38:23 and be holy because I am holy. # 11:44 Lv 19:2; 20:7,26; 1Pt 1:16 Do not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. 45For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, # 11:45 Ex 6:7; 20:2; Lv 25:38,42; 26:13,45 so you must be holy because I am holy. # 11:45 Lv 21:8
46“This is the law concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that swarm on the ground, 47in order to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the animals # 11:47 Lv 26:6 that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.”
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Leviticus 11: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Leviticus 11
11
Laws about what is clean and unclean
Clean and unclean animals
(Deuteronomy 14.3-21)
1The LORD told Moses and Aaron 2to say to the community of Israel:
You may eat 3any animal that has divided hoofs and chews the cud.#11.3 chews the cud: Some animals that eat grass and leaves have more than one stomach and chew their food a second time after it has been partly digested in the first stomach. This partly digested food is called the “cud”. 4-8But you must not eat animals such as camels, rock badgers, and rabbits that chew the cud but don't have divided hoofs. And you must not eat pigs—they have divided hoofs, but don't chew the cud. All these animals are unclean,#11.4-8 unclean: In the Old Testament “clean” and “unclean” refer to whatever makes a person, animal, or object acceptable or unacceptable to God. For example, a person became unclean by eating certain foods, touching certain objects, and having certain kinds of diseases or bodily discharges. and you are forbidden even to touch their dead bodies.
9-12You may eat anything that lives in water and has fins and scales. But it would be disgusting for you to eat anything else that lives in water, and you must not even touch their dead bodies.
13-19Eagles, vultures, buzzards, crows, ostriches, hawks, seagulls, owls, pelicans, storks, herons, hoopoes,#11.13-19 Eagles…hoopoes: Some of the birds in this list are difficult to identify. and bats are also disgusting, and you are forbidden to eat any of them.
20-23The only winged insects you may eat are locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets. All other winged insects that crawl are too disgusting for you to eat.
24-28Don't even touch the dead bodies of animals that have divided hoofs but don't chew the cud. And don't touch the dead bodies of animals that have paws. If you do, you must wash your clothes, but you are still unclean until evening.
29-30Moles, rats, mice, and all kinds of lizards are unclean. 31Anyone who touches their dead bodies or anything touched by their dead bodies becomes unclean until evening. 32If something made of wood, cloth, or leather touches one of their dead bodies, it must be washed, but it is still unclean until evening. 33If any of these animals is found dead in a clay pot, the pot must be broken to pieces, and everything in it becomes unclean. 34If you pour water from this pot on any food, that food becomes unclean, and anything drinkable in the pot becomes unclean.
35If the dead body of one of these animals touches anything else, including ovens and stoves, that thing becomes unclean and must be destroyed. 36A spring or a cistern where one of these dead animals is found is still clean, but anyone who touches the animal becomes unclean. 37If the dead body of one of these animals is found lying on seeds that have been set aside for planting, the seeds remain clean. 38But seeds that are soaking in water become unclean, if the dead animal is found in the water.
39If an animal that may be eaten happens to die, and you touch it, you become unclean until evening. 40If you eat any of its meat or carry its body away, you must wash your clothes, but you are still unclean until evening.
41-42Don't eat any of those disgusting little creatures that crawl or walk close to the ground. 43If you eat any of them, you will become just as disgusting and unclean as they are. 44I am the LORD your God, and you must dedicate yourselves to me and be holy, just as I am holy. Don't become disgusting by eating any of these unclean creatures.#Lv 19.2; 1 P 1.16. 45I brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. Now you must become holy, because I am holy!
46-47I have given these laws so that you will know what animals, birds, and fish are clean and may be eaten, and which ones are unclean and may not be eaten.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012