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 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 you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are 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 animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
5 deer, gazelles, wild goats, antelopes, and mountain sheep.
the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the chamois.
6 You can eat any animal that both has a divided hoof and also chews the cud.
Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you 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 you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof split: the camel, the hare, and the rabbit. Because they chew the cud but don’t part the hoof, they 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.
The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat their meat. You shall not touch their carcasses.
9 When it comes to creatures that live in the water, you are allowed to eat anything that has fins and scales.
These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat whatever has fins and scales.
10 But you must not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. You must treat them as unclean.
You shall not eat whatever doesn’t have fins and scales. It is unclean to you.
11 You are allowed to eat any clean bird.
Of all clean birds you may eat.
12 But you must not eat the following: eagle, griffon vulture, bearded vulture,
But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey,
13 buzzard, kites, any kind of falcon,
the red kite, the falcon, the kite of any kind,
14 any member of the crow family,
every raven of any kind,
15 tawny owl, long-eared owl, gulls, any kind of hawk,
the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, the hawk of any kind,
16 little owl, eagle owl, barn owl,
the little owl, the great owl, the horned owl,
17 desert owl, Egyptian vulture, fish owl,
the pelican, the vulture, the cormorant,
18 storks, any kind of heron, hoopoe, or bats.
the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
19 All insects that fly are unclean to you; you must not eat them.
All winged creeping things are unclean to you. They shall not be eaten.
20 But you are allowed to eat any clean animal that has wings.
Of all clean birds you 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.
You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
22 Make sure you pay a tithe of every crop grown each year in your fields.
You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out 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.
You shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place which he chooses to cause his name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and 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,
If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it because the place which the LORD your God shall choose to set his name there is too far from you, when the LORD your God blesses 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 turn it into money, bind up the money in your hand, and 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.
You shall trade the money for whatever your soul desires: for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you. You shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your 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.
You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor 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.
At the end of every three years you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall store it within your 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.
The Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, as well as the foreigner living among you, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
