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 the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your 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 thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be His own treasure out of all 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 may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

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

the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the antelope, and the mountain-sheep.

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

And every beast that parteth the hoof, and hath the hoof wholly cloven in two, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that ye may 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.

Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger, because they chew the cud but part not the hoof, they are 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, because he parteth the hoof but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you; of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall 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 ye may eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales may ye eat;

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

and whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat; it is unclean unto you.

11 You are allowed to eat any clean bird.

Of all clean birds ye may 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 great vulture, and the bearded vulture, and the ospray;

13 buzzard, kites, any kind of falcon,

and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kinds;

14 any member of the crow family,

and every raven after its kinds;

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

and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kinds;

16 little owl, eagle owl, barn owl,

the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl;

17 desert owl, Egyptian vulture, fish owl,

and the pelican, and the carrion-vulture, and the cormorant;

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

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

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

And all winged swarming things are unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten.

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

Of all clean winged things ye may 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 not eat of any thing that dieth of itself; thou mayest give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe 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 surely tithe all the increase of thy seed, that which is brought forth in 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 the LORD thy God, in the place which He shall choose to cause His name to dwell there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy 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 way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set His name there, when the LORD thy God shall bless 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 turn it into money, and bind up the money in thy hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy 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 thou shalt bestow the money for whatsoever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy household.

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 within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him; 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 every three years, even in the same year, thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase, and shall 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, because 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 the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.