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,

Ye are sons of Jehovah your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for a dead person.

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 thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, and thee hath Jehovah chosen for a people of possession unto himself, out of all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

3 You must not eat anything repulsive.

Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.

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

These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat;

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

the hart, and the gazelle, and the stag, and the wild goat, and the dishon and the oryx, and the wild sheep.

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

And every beast that hath cloven hoofs, and the feet quite split open into double hoofs, [and] which cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that ye 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.

Only these ye shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those with hoofs cloven and split open: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger; for they chew the cud, but have not cloven hoofs — they shall be unclean unto 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 the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, yet cheweth not the cud — it shall be unclean unto you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch.

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

These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales shall ye eat;

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

but whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat: it shall be unclean unto you.

11 You are allowed to eat any clean bird.

All clean birds shall ye eat.

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

But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle,

13 buzzard, kites, any kind of falcon,

and the falcon, and the kite, and the black kite after its kind;

14 any member of the crow family,

and every raven after its kind;

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

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

16 little owl, eagle owl, barn owl,

the owl, and the ibis and the swan,

17 desert owl, Egyptian vulture, fish owl,

and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the gannet,

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

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

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

And every winged crawling thing shall be unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten.

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

All clean fowls shall ye eat.

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.

Ye shall eat of no carcase; thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it, or sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people to Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

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

Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, the produce of the 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 thou shalt eat before Jehovah thy God, in the place which he will choose to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear Jehovah thy God continually.

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 way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which Jehovah thy God will choose to set his name there, when Jehovah thy God blesseth thee;

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 shalt thou give it for money, and bind the money together in thy hand, and go to the place which Jehovah thy God will 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 thou shalt give the money for whatever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thy 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 thou shalt not forsake the Levite that is within thy gates; for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee.

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

At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates;

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 — for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee — and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.