< Deuteronomy 14 >

1 Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye 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 a holy people art thou unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath made choice of thee to be unto himself a peculiar nation above all the nations that are upon the face of 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 Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.
“Do not eat anything that [Yahweh] detests.
4 These are the beasts which ye may 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 chamois, and the gazelle, and the wild ox, and the antelope.
deer, gazelles, wild goats, antelopes, and mountain sheep.
6 And every beast that hath parted hoofs, and whose feet are cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts—that alone may ye 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 shall ye not eat of those that chew the cud, and of those that possess the divided cloven hoof: The camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; unclean are they unto 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 divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you; of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their dead carcass shall ye not touch.
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 This may ye eat of all that is in the waters: all that hath fins and scales may ye eat;
You are permitted to eat any fish that has scales and fins.
10 And whatsoever hath not fins and scales shall ye not eat; it is unclean unto 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 Every clean bird may ye eat.
“You are permitted to eat the flesh of any bird that is acceptable [to Yahweh].
12 But these are they which ye shall not eat of them: The eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey,
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 ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the cuckoo, 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 his kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.
storks, herons, hoopoes, and bats, you must not eat.
19 And every winged insect is unclean unto you: it shall not be eaten.
“All insects with wings [and which walk on the ground] are unacceptable [to Yahweh]; do not eat them.
20 All clean fowls may ye eat.
But other insects with wings [and which hop along the ground] are acceptable to eat.
21 Ye shall not eat any thing that dieth of itself: unto the stranger that is in thy gates canst thou give it, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien; for thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God; thou shalt not seethe a kid in its 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 Thou shalt truly tithe all the produce of thy seed, which the field bringeth 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 thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he will choose to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thy oil, and the first-born of thy herds and of thy flocks; in order that thou may learn to fear the Lord thy God all the days.
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 thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; because the place is too far from thee, which the Lord thy God will choose to set his name there, because the Lord thy God will bless thee:
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 shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thy hand, and thou shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God will 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 thou shalt lay out that money for whatsoever thy soul longeth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat it there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thy 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, who is within thy gates, him shalt thou not forsake; for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee.
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 shalt thou bring forth all the tithe of thy produce in the same year, and thou shalt lay it down within thy 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 then shall come the Levite, because he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee, with the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates, and they shall eat and be satisfied; in order that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.
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.”

< Deuteronomy 14 >