Leviticus 11

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,

2 Speak you to the sons of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which you shall eat of all beasts that are upon the earth.

“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 Every beast parting the hoof and making divisions of two claws, and chewing the cud amongst beasts, these you shall eat.

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 these you shall not eat, of those that chew the cud, and of those that part the hoofs, and divide claws; the camel, because it chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof, this is unclean to 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 And the rabbit, because it chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof, this is unclean to you.

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

6 And the hare, because it does not chew the cud, and does not divide the hoof, this is unclean to you.

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

7 And the swine, because this [animal] divides the hoof, and makes claws of the hoof, and it does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.

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

8 You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcases; these are unclean to you.

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

9 And these [are] what you shall eat of all that are in the waters: all things that have fins and scales in the waters, and in the seas, and in the brooks, these you shall eat.

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

10 And all things which have not fins or scales in the water, or in the seas, and in the brooks, of all which the waters produce, and of every soul living in the water, are an abomination; and they shall be abominations to you.

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

11 You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall abhor their carcases.

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

12 And all things that have not fins or scales of those that are in the waters, these are an abomination to you.

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

13 And these are the things which you shall abhor of birds, and they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle.

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

14 And the vulture, and the kite, and the like to it;

kites, any kind of falcon/buzzard,

15 and the sparrow, and the owl, and the cormorant, and the like to it:

any kind of raven,

16 and every raven, and the birds like it, and the hawk and his like,

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

17 and the night-raven and the cormorant and the stork,

small owls, cormorants, large owls,

18 and the red-bill, and the pelican, and swan,

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

19 and the heron, and the lapwing, and the like to it, and the hoopoe and the bat.

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

20 And all winged creatures that creep, which go upon four feet, are abominations to you.

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

21 But these you shall eat of the creeping winged animals, which go upon four feet, which have legs above their feet, to leap with on the earth.

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

22 And these of them you shall eat: the caterpillar and his like, and the attacus and his like, and the cantharus and his like, and the locust and his like.

They include locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.

23 Every creeping thing from amongst the birds, which has four feet, is an abomination to you.

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

24 And by these you shall be defiled; every one that touches their carcases shall be unclean till the 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 every one that takes of their dead bodies shall wash his garments, and shall be unclean till the evening.

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

26 And whichever amongst the beasts divides the hoof and makes claws, and does not chew the cud, shall be unclean to you; every one that touches their dead bodies shall be unclean till evening.

‘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 And every one amongst all the wild beasts that moves upon its fore feet, which goes on all four, is unclean to you; every one that touches their dead bodies shall be unclean till 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 he that takes of their dead bodies shall wash his garments, and shall be unclean till evening: these are unclean to 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 And these [are] unclean to you of reptiles upon the earth, the weasel, and the mouse, and the 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 ferret, and the chameleon, and the evet, and the newt, and the mole.

geckos, skinks, and chameleons.

31 These are unclean to you of all the reptiles which are on the earth; every one who touches their carcases shall be unclean till 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 And on whatever one of their dead bodies shall fall it shall be unclean; whatever wooden vessel, or garment, or skin, or sack it may be, every vessel in which work should be done, shall be dipped in water, and shall be unclean till evening; and [then] it shall 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 And every earthen vessel into which one of these things shall fall, whatever is inside it, shall be unclean, and it shall be broken.

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

34 And all food that is eaten, on which water shall come [from such a vessel], shall be unclean; and every beverage which is drunk in any [such] vessel, shall 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 And every thing on which there shall fall of their dead bodies shall be unclean; ovens and stands for jars shall be broken down: these are unclean, and they shall be unclean to 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 Only [if the water be] of fountains of water, or a pool, or confluence of water, it shall be clean; but he that touches their carcases shall 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 And if one of their carcases should fall upon any sowing seed which shall be sown, it shall be 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 be poured on any seed, and one of their dead bodies fall upon it, it is unclean to you.

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

39 And if one of the cattle die, which it is lawful for you to eat, he that touches their carcases shall be unclean till 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 And he that eats of their carcases shall wash his garments, and be unclean till evening; and he that carries any of their carcases shall wash his garments, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean till evening.

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

41 And every reptile that creeps on the earth, this shall be an abomination to you; it shall 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 And every [animal] that creeps on its belly, and every one that goes on four [feet] continually, which abounds with feet amongst all the reptiles creeping upon the earth—you shall not eat it, for it is an abomination to you.

43 And you shall not defile your souls with any of the reptiles that creep upon the earth, and you shall not be polluted with them, and you shall not be unclean 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; and you shall be sanctified, and you shall be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy; and you shall not defile your souls with any of the reptiles creeping upon the earth.

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 to be your God; and you shall be holy, for I the Lord 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 concerning beasts and birds and every living creature moving in the water, and every living creature creeping on the earth;

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

47 to distinguish between the unclean and the clean; and between those that bring forth alive, such as should be eaten, and those that bring forth alive, such as should not be eaten.

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.’”