Deuteronomy 14

1 You are the children of the Lord your God. Don't mutilate yourselves or shave your forehead like pagans do when they mourn the dead,

You are the children of the Lord your God: you shall not make any baldness between you eyes for the dead.

2 because you are a holy people who belong to the Lord your God. The Lord chose you as his special people out of all the nations on earth.

For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord your God has chosen you to be a peculiar people to himself of all the nations on the face of the earth.

3 You must not eat anything repulsive.

You shall not eat any abominable thing.

4 These are the animals that you are allowed to eat: cattle, sheep, goats,

These [are] the beasts which you shall eat; the calf of the herd, and lamb of the sheep, and kid of the goats;

5 deer, gazelles, wild goats, antelopes, and mountain sheep.

the stag, and doe, and pygarg, and wild goat, and camelopard.

6 You can eat any animal that both has a divided hoof and also chews the cud.

Every beast that divides the hoofs, and makes claws of two divisions, and that chews the cud amongst beasts, these you shall eat.

7 But you are not allowed to eat those that either chew the cud or have a divided hoof. This includes: camels, rabbits, and rock hyraxes. Even though they chew the cud, they don't have a divided hoof. You must treat them as unclean.

And these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, and of those that divide the hoofs, and make distinct claws; the camel, and the hare, and the rabbit; because they chew the cud, and do not divide the hoof, these are unclean to you.

8 The same applies to the pig. Even though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. So you must treat it as unclean. You must not eat its meat or touch its dead body.

And as for the swine, because he divides the hoof, and makes claws of the hoof, yet he chews not the cud, he is unclean to you; you shall not eat of their flesh, you shall not touch their dead bodies.

9 When it comes to creatures that live in the water, you are allowed to eat anything that has fins and scales.

And these you shall eat of all that are in the water, you shall eat all that have fins and scales.

10 But you must not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. You must treat them as unclean.

And all that have not fins and scales you shall not eat; they are unclean to you.

11 You are allowed to eat any clean bird.

You shall eat every clean bird.

12 But you must not eat the following: eagle, griffon vulture, bearded vulture,

And these of them you shall not eat; the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle,

13 buzzard, kites, any kind of falcon,

and the vulture, and the kite and the like to it,

14 any member of the crow family,

15 tawny owl, long-eared owl, gulls, any kind of hawk,

and the sparrow, and the owl, and the cormorant,

16 little owl, eagle owl, barn owl,

and the heron, and the swan, and the stork,

17 desert owl, Egyptian vulture, fish owl,

and the cormorant, and the hawk, and its like, and the hoopoe, and the raven,

18 storks, any kind of heron, hoopoe, or bats.

and the pelican, and the diver and the like to it, and the red-bill and the bat.

19 All insects that fly are unclean to you; you must not eat them.

All winged animals that creep are unclean to you; you shall not eat of them.

20 But you are allowed to eat any clean animal that has wings.

You shall eat every clean bird.

21 You must not eat any animal that dies. You can give it to a foreigner in your town, and they can eat it, or you can sell it to a foreigner. You, however, are a holy people who belong to the Lord your God. Don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

You shall eat nothing that dies of itself; it shall be given to the sojourner in your cities and he shall eat it, or you shall sell it to a stranger, because you are a holy people to the Lord your God. You shall not boil a lamb in his mother's milk.

22 Make sure you pay a tithe of every crop grown each year in your fields.

You shall tithe a tenth of all the produce of your seed, the fruit of your field year by year.

23 You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose to live with you, so that you will learn to always respect the Lord your God.

And you shall eat it in the place which the Lord your God shall choose to have his name called there; you shall bring the tithe of your corn and of your wine, and of your oil, the firstborn of your herd and of your flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.

24 However, if it's too far to carry all the tithe that the Lord your God has blessed you with, because the place where the Lord your God will choose to live with you is too distant,

And if the journey be too far for you, and you are not able to bring them, because the place [is] far from you which the Lord your God shall choose to have his name called there, because the Lord your God will bless you;

25 then you can exchange it for money, take the money with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose.

then you shall sell them for money, and you shall take the money in your hands, and you shall go to the place which the Lord your God shall choose.

26 Then you can spend the money on anything you like—cattle, sheep, wine, alcoholic drink, or anything else you want. Then you can have a feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and celebrate with your family.

And you shall give the money for whatever your soul shall desire, for oxen or for sheep, or for wine, or [you shall lay it out] on strong drink, or on whatever your soul may desire, and you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice and your house,

27 Don't forget to take care of the Levites in your town, because they don't have any share in the allotment of land.

and the Levite that is in your cities, because he has not a portion or inheritance with you.

28 At the end of every third year, collect a tenth of all your produce for that year and store it in your town.

After three years you shall bring out all the tithes of your fruits, in that year you shall lay it up in your cities.

29 This way the Levites (who don't have any share in the allotment of land), the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows in your town will be provided with what they need. The Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

And the Levite shall come, because he has no part or lot with you, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow which is in your cities; and they shall eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the works which you shall do.