Deuteronomy 14

1 You are the children of the LORD your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

“We are people who belong to Yahweh our God. So, when people die, do not show that you are grieving by gashing/cutting yourselves or by shaving the hair on your foreheads [like the other people-groups do].

2 For you are an holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a peculiar people to himself, above all the nations that are on the earth.

We belong to Yahweh alone. Yahweh chose us from all the other people-groups on the earth to be his special people.

3 You shall not eat any abominable thing.

“Do not eat anything that [Yahweh] detests.

4 These are the beasts which you shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

The animals [whose meat] you are permitted to eat are cattle, sheep, goats,

5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.

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

6 And every beast that parts the hoof, and separates the cleft into two claws, and chews the cud among the beasts, that you shall eat.

Those are animals that have split hoofs and that also (chew their cuds/regurgitate their food [from their stomachs] to chew it again).

7 Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean to you.

But there are other animals that chew their cuds that you must not eat. Those are camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. They chew their cuds, but their hooves are not split. So they are not acceptable for you to eat.

8 And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet chews not the cud, it is unclean to you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass.

Do not eat pigs. They are unacceptable for you to eat; their hooves are split, but they do not chew cud. Do not eat the meat of those animals; do not even touch their dead bodies.

9 These you shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall you eat:

You are permitted to eat any fish that has scales and fins.

10 And whatever has not fins and scales you may not eat; it is unclean to you.

But anything else [that lives in the water] that does not have scales and fins, you must not eat, because [if you eat them], you will become unacceptable [to Yahweh].

11 Of all clean birds you shall eat.

“You are permitted to eat the flesh of any bird that is acceptable [to Yahweh].

12 But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

But eagles, vultures, black vultures,

13 And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,

buzzards, all kinds of kites,

14 And every raven after his kind,

all kinds of crows,

15 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,

ostriches, seagulls,

16 The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,

owls, hawks, falcons,

17 And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,

pelicans, vultures that eat dead animals, cormorants,

18 And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

storks, herons, hoopoes, and bats, you must not eat.

19 And every creeping thing that flies is unclean to you: they shall not be eaten.

“All insects with wings [and which walk on the ground] are unacceptable [to Yahweh]; do not eat them.

20 But of all clean fowls you may eat.

But other insects with wings [and which hop along the ground] are acceptable to eat.

21 You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you shall give it to the stranger that is in your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to an alien: for you are an holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

“Do not eat any animal that has died naturally, [because its blood has not been drained out]. You may allow foreigners who live among you to eat those things or you may sell them to other foreigners. But you belong to Yahweh our God; [and those who belong to him are not permitted to eat the meat of animals whose blood has not been drained out]. “You must not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother’s milk.”

22 You shall truly tithe all the increase of your seed, that the field brings forth year by year.

“Once each year you must set apart (a tithe/10 percent) of all the crops that are produced/harvested in your fields.

23 And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herds and of your flocks; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

Take those things to the place that Yahweh our God will choose [for you to worship him]. There eat the tithes of your grain, your wine, your [olive] oil, and the meat of the firstborn male animals of your cattle and your sheep. Do this in order that you may learn to always revere Yahweh, [the one who has blessed you by giving you these things].

24 And if the way be too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from you, which the LORD your God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD your God has blessed you:

If the place that Yahweh has chosen [for you to worship him] is very far from your home, with the result that you are not able to take there the tithes [of your crops] with which Yahweh has blessed you, do this:

25 Then shall you turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose:

Sell [IDM] the tithes of your crops, wrap the money carefully [in a cloth], and take it with you to the place of worship that Yahweh has chosen.

26 And you shall bestow that money for whatever your soul lusts after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul desires: and you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you, and your household,

There, [with that money], you may buy whatever you want to—beef or lamb or wine or fermented drinks. And there, in the presence of Yahweh, you and your families should eat [and drink] those things and be happy.

27 And the Levite that is within your gates; you shall not forsake him; for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

But be sure to not neglect/forget [to help] the descendants of Levi who live in your towns, because they will not own any land.

28 At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates:

“At the end of every three years, bring a tithe of all your crops that have been produced/harvested in that year and store it in your towns.

29 And the Levite, (because he has no part nor inheritance with you, ) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which 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.

That food is for the descendants of Levi, because they do not have their own land, and for foreigners [who live among you], and for orphans and widows who live in your towns. They are permitted to come [to where the food is stored] and take what they need. Do that in order that Yahweh our God will bless you in everything that you do.”