Leviticus 11

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,

Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the animals which ye shall eat of all the beasts which are on 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 Whatever hath cloven hoofs, and feet quite split open, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts — that shall ye 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 Only these shall ye not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those with cloven hoofs: the camel, for it cheweth the cud, but hath not cloven hoofs — it shall be unclean unto 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 rock-badger, for it cheweth the cud, but hath not cloven hoofs — it shall be unclean unto you;

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

6 and the hare, for it cheweth the cud, but hath not cloven hoofs — it shall be unclean unto you;

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

7 and the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, and feet quite split open, but it cheweth not the cud — it shall be unclean unto you.

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

8 Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch: they shall be unclean unto you.

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

9 These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatever hath fins and scales in waters, in seas and in rivers, these shall ye 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 but all that have not fins and scales in seas and in rivers, of all that swarm in the waters, and of every living soul which is in the waters — they shall be an abomination unto you.

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 even an abomination unto you: of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase ye shall have in abomination.

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

12 Whatever in the waters hath no fins and scales, that shall be an abomination unto you.

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

13 And these shall ye have in abomination of the fowls; they shall not be eaten; an abomination shall they be: 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 falcon, and the kite, after its kind;

kites, any kind of falcon/buzzard,

15 every raven after its kind;

any kind of raven,

16 and the female ostrich and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk, after its kind;

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

17 and the owl, and the gannet, and the ibis,

small owls, cormorants, large owls,

18 and the swan, and the pelican, and the carrion vulture,

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

19 and the stork; the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.

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

20 Every winged crawling thing that goeth upon all four shall be an abomination unto you.

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

21 Yet these shall ye eat of every winged crawling thing that goeth upon all four: those which have legs above their feet with which to leap upon 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 These shall ye eat of them: the arbeh after its kind, and the solam after its kind, and the hargol after its kind, and the hargab after its kind.

They include locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.

23 But every winged crawling thing that hath four feet shall be an abomination unto you.

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

24 And by these ye shall make yourselves unclean; whoever toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.

‘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 carrieth [ought] of their carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even.

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

26 Every beast that hath cloven hoofs, but not feet quite split open, nor cheweth the cud, shall be unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall 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 And whatever goeth on its paws, among all manner of beasts that go upon all four, those are unclean unto you: whoever toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.

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 carrieth their carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even: they shall be unclean unto 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 shall be unclean unto you among the crawling things which crawl on the earth: the mole, and the field-mouse, and the lizard, after its kind;

‘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 and the groaning lizard, and the great red lizard, and the climbing lizard, and the chomet, and the chameleon.

geckos, skinks, and chameleons.

31 These shall be unclean unto you among all that crawl: whoever toucheth them when they are dead, shall be unclean until the even.

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 any of them when they are dead doth fall, it shall be unclean; all vessels of wood, or garment, or skin, or sack, every vessel wherewith work is done — it shall be put into water, and be unclean until the even; then shall it 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 [any] of them falleth — whatever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it.

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

34 All food that is eaten on which [such] water hath come shall be unclean; and all drink that is drunk shall be unclean, in every [such] vessel.

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 everything where upon [any part] of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; oven and hearth shall be broken down: they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto 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 a well, a quantity of water, shall be clean. But he that toucheth their carcase 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 any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing-seed which is to 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 have been put on the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto 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 any beast which is to you for food die, he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.

‘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 eateth of its carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even: he also that carrieth its carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even.

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 crawling thing which crawleth on the earth shall be an abomination; 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 Whatever goeth on the belly, and whatever goeth on all four, and all that have a great many feet, of every manner of crawling thing which crawleth on the earth — these ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

43 Ye shall not make yourselves abominable through any crawling thing which crawleth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.

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

44 For I am Jehovah your God; and ye shall hallow yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy; and ye shall not make yourselves unclean through any manner of crawling thing which creepeth on 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 Jehovah who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for 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 of cattle, and of fowl, and of every living soul that moveth in the waters, and of every soul that crawleth 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 make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that is to be eaten and the beast that is not to 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.’”