Leviticus 11

1 The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, telling them,

Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,

2 “Say to the Israelites, ‘Of all the beasts of the earth, these ones you may eat:

“Tell the Israeli people that [this is what Yahweh says]: From all the animals that live on the land, these are the ones that you are permitted to eat:

3 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.

The ones that have hooves that are completely split and that (chew their cuds/bring their food up from their stomachs to chew it again).

4 But of those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

There are some animals that chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, and some animals that have split hooves but do not chew their cuds. You must not eat any of those animals. [For example], camels chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.

5 The rock badger, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

Rock badgers chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.

6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

Rabbits chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.

7 And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

Pigs have completely split hooves but they do not chew their cuds, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.

8 You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

All of those animals are unacceptable for you, so you must not eat their meat or even touch their carcasses.

9 Of all the creatures that live in the water, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat anything with fins and scales.

From all the creatures that live in the oceans and the streams, you are permitted to eat any that have fins and scales.

10 But the following among all the teeming life and creatures in the water are detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales.

But you must detest [and not eat] those that do not have fins and scales. That includes ones that are very small.

11 They shall be an abomination to you; you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses.

You must despise them, and you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses.

12 Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales shall be detestable to you.

You must detest everything that lives in the water that does not have fins and scales.

13 Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

There are some birds that you must detest [and not eat]. They include eagles, bearded vultures, black vultures,

14 the kite, any kind of falcon,

kites, any kind of falcon/buzzard,

15 any kind of raven,

any kind of raven,

16 the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

horned owls, screech owls, seagulls, any kind of hawk,

17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,

small owls, cormorants, large owls,

18 the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,

white owls, desert owls, vultures that eat dead animals,

19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

storks, any kind of heron, hoopoes, and bats.

20 All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.

You must detest [and not eat] flying insects that [sometimes] walk on the ground [MTY].

21 However, you may eat the following kinds of flying insects that walk on all fours: those having jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground.

But you are permitted to eat creatures with wings that sometimes walk on the ground if they have jointed legs for hopping around.

22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper.

They include locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.

23 All other flying insects that have four legs are detestable to you.

But you must detest [and not eat] other insects with wings that have four legs.

24 These creatures will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening,

‘There are certain creatures that if you touch their carcasses you will become defiled. Anyone who touches their carcasses must not touch other people until that evening.

25 and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening.

Anyone who picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes and not touch other people until that evening.

26 Every animal with hooves not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. Whoever touches any of them will be unclean.

‘The animals whose carcasses you must not touch are those that have hooves that are not completely divided or animals that do not chew their cuds. Anyone who touches the carcasses of any of those animals becomes (defiled/unacceptable to me).

27 All the four-footed animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening,

From all the animals that walk on the ground, you must not touch the carcasses of those that have paws to walk on. Anyone who touches one of their carcasses must not touch other people until that evening.

28 and anyone who picks up a carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

Anyone who picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes and not touch other people until that evening, because touching their carcasses (defiles you/causes you to become unacceptable to me).

29 The following creatures that move along the ground are unclean for you: the mole, the mouse, any kind of great lizard,

‘From all the animals that walk on the ground, these are the ones that (defile you/cause you to become unacceptable to me) [if you touch them]: Moles, rats, any kind of lizard,

30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.

geckos, skinks, and chameleons.

31 These animals are unclean for you among all the crawling creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.

Those creatures that scurry across the ground (defile you/cause you to become unacceptable to me); anyone who touches one of their carcasses must not touch other people until the evening.

32 When one of them dies and falls on something, that article becomes unclean; any article of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work must be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean.

When one of those creatures dies and falls on something, the thing that it falls on, whatever it is used for, will become (defiled/unacceptable to me), whether it is made of wood or cloth or the hide of some animal or from rough cloth. You must put it in water. Then you must not use it until that evening.

33 If any of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean; you must break the pot.

If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it becomes defiled, and you must break that pot into pieces.

34 Any food coming into contact with water from that pot will be unclean, and any drink in such a container will be unclean.

If you pour water from that pot on any food, you must not eat that food. And you must not drink any water from that pot.

35 Anything upon which one of their carcasses falls will be unclean. If it is an oven or cooking pot, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you.

Anything that one of the carcasses of those creatures falls on becomes (defiled/unacceptable to me); even if it falls on an oven or a cooking pot, anything that it falls on must be broken into pieces. It becomes unacceptable to me and you must not use it again.

36 Nevertheless, a spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but one who touches a carcass in it will be unclean.

If one of their carcasses falls into a spring or a pit for storing water, the water may still be drunk, but anyone who touches one of those carcasses becomes unacceptable to me.

37 If a carcass falls on any seed for sowing, the seed is clean;

If one of those carcasses falls on seeds that are to be planted, those seeds are still acceptable to be planted.

38 but if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

But if water has been put on the seeds and then a carcass falls on them, the seeds must be thrown away.

39 If an animal that you may eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean until evening.

‘If an animal [whose meat] you are permitted to eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass must not touch other people until that evening.

40 Whoever eats from the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.

Anyone who eats some meat from that carcass must wash his clothes, and then he must not touch anyone until that evening.

41 Every creature that moves along the ground is detestable; it must not be eaten.

‘All creatures that scurry across the ground, including those that move on their bellies and those that crawl, are detestable, and they must not be eaten.

42 Do not eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it crawls on its belly or walks on four or more feet; for such creatures are detestable.

43 Do not defile yourselves by any crawling creature; do not become unclean or defiled by them.

Do not (defile yourselves/cause you to become unacceptable to me) by [eating] any of those creatures [DOU].

44 For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.

I am Yahweh your God, and I am holy, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy. You must avoid eating things that cause you to be unacceptable to me. Do not cause yourselves to become unacceptable to me by eating creatures that scurry across the ground.

45 For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

I am Yahweh, the one who freed you from [being slaves in] Egypt, in order to be your God. Therefore, because I am holy, you must be holy.

46 This is the law regarding animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that crawl along the ground.

'Those are the regulations concerning animals and birds, all the living creatures that live in water or scurry across the ground.

47 You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.’”

You must learn what things [I say] are acceptable to me and what things are not, and learn what things you are permitted to eat and what things you are not permitted to eat.’”