Leviticus 11

1 The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,

Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,

2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.

“Tell the Israeli people that [this is what Yahweh says]: From all the animals that live on the land, these are the ones that you are permitted to eat:

3 Whatever parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud among the animals, that you may eat.

The ones that have hooves that are completely split and that (chew their cuds/bring their food up from their stomachs to chew it again).

4 "'Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those who part the hoof: the camel, because he chews the cud but doesn't have a parted hoof, he is unclean to you.

There are some animals that chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, and some animals that have split hooves but do not chew their cuds. You must not eat any of those animals. [For example], camels chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.

5 The coney, because he chews the cud but doesn't have a parted hoof, he is unclean to you.

Rock badgers chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.

6 The hare, because she chews the cud but doesn't part the hoof, she is unclean to you.

Rabbits chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.

7 The pig, because he has a split hoof, and is cloven-footed, but doesn't chew the cud, he is unclean to you.

Pigs have completely split hooves but they do not chew their cuds, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.

8 Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.

All of those animals are unacceptable for you, so you must not eat their meat or even touch their carcasses.

9 "'These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, that you may eat.

From all the creatures that live in the oceans and the streams, you are permitted to eat any that have fins and scales.

10 All that do not have fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are an abomination to you,

But you must detest [and not eat] those that do not have fins and scales. That includes ones that are very small.

11 and you detest them. You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses.

You must despise them, and you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses.

12 Whatever has no fins nor scales in the waters, that is an abomination to you.

You must detest everything that lives in the water that does not have fins and scales.

13 "'These you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the vulture, and the black vulture,

There are some birds that you must detest [and not eat]. They include eagles, bearded vultures, black vultures,

14 and the red kite, any kind of black kite,

kites, any kind of falcon/buzzard,

15 any kind of raven,

any kind of raven,

16 the horned owl, the screech owl, and the gull, any kind of hawk,

horned owls, screech owls, seagulls, any kind of hawk,

17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,

small owls, cormorants, large owls,

18 the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,

white owls, desert owls, vultures that eat dead animals,

19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

storks, any kind of heron, hoopoes, and bats.

20 "'All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you.

You must detest [and not eat] flying insects that [sometimes] walk on the ground [MTY].

21 Yet you may eat these: of all winged crawling creatures that go on all fours, which have legs above their feet, with which to hop on the earth.

But you are permitted to eat creatures with wings that sometimes walk on the ground if they have jointed legs for hopping around.

22 Even of these you may eat: any kind of locust, any kind of katydid, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper.

They include locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.

23 But all winged crawling creatures which have four feet, are an abomination to you.

But you must detest [and not eat] other insects with wings that have four legs.

24 "'By these you will become unclean: whoever touches the carcass of them shall be unclean until the evening.

‘There are certain creatures that if you touch their carcasses you will become defiled. Anyone who touches their carcasses must not touch other people until that evening.

25 Whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

Anyone who picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes and not touch other people until that evening.

26 "'Every animal which parts the hoof, and is not cloven-footed, nor chews the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean.

‘The animals whose carcasses you must not touch are those that have hooves that are not completely divided or animals that do not chew their cuds. Anyone who touches the carcasses of any of those animals becomes (defiled/unacceptable to me).

27 Whatever goes on its paws, among all animals that go on all fours, they are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

From all the animals that walk on the ground, you must not touch the carcasses of those that have paws to walk on. Anyone who touches one of their carcasses must not touch other people until that evening.

28 He who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you.

Anyone who picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes and not touch other people until that evening, because touching their carcasses (defiles you/causes you to become unacceptable to me).

29 "'These are they which are unclean to you among the creatures that crawl on the earth: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard,

‘From all the animals that walk on the ground, these are the ones that (defile you/cause you to become unacceptable to me) [if you touch them]: Moles, rats, any kind of lizard,

30 the gecko, and the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.

geckos, skinks, and chameleons.

31 These are they which are unclean to you among all that crawl. Whoever touches them when they are dead, shall be unclean until the evening.

Those creatures that scurry across the ground (defile you/cause you to become unacceptable to me); anyone who touches one of their carcasses must not touch other people until the evening.

32 On whatever any of them falls when they are dead, it shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it will be clean.

When one of those creatures dies and falls on something, the thing that it falls on, whatever it is used for, will become (defiled/unacceptable to me), whether it is made of wood or cloth or the hide of some animal or from rough cloth. You must put it in water. Then you must not use it until that evening.

33 Every earthen vessel, into which any of them falls, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it.

If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it becomes defiled, and you must break that pot into pieces.

34 All food which may be eaten, that on which water comes, shall be unclean; and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean.

If you pour water from that pot on any food, you must not eat that food. And you must not drink any water from that pot.

35 Everything whereupon part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces: they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.

Anything that one of the carcasses of those creatures falls on becomes (defiled/unacceptable to me); even if it falls on an oven or a cooking pot, anything that it falls on must be broken into pieces. It becomes unacceptable to me and you must not use it again.

36 Nevertheless a spring or a cistern in which water is a gathered shall be clean: but that which touches their carcass shall be unclean.

If one of their carcasses falls into a spring or a pit for storing water, the water may still be drunk, but anyone who touches one of those carcasses becomes unacceptable to me.

37 If part of their carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean.

If one of those carcasses falls on seeds that are to be planted, those seeds are still acceptable to be planted.

38 But if water is put on the seed, and part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

But if water has been put on the seeds and then a carcass falls on them, the seeds must be thrown away.

39 "'If any animal, of which you may eat, dies; he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

‘If an animal [whose meat] you are permitted to eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass must not touch other people until that evening.

40 He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

Anyone who eats some meat from that carcass must wash his clothes, and then he must not touch anyone until that evening.

41 "'Every swarming thing that swarms on the earth is an abomination. It shall not be eaten.

‘All creatures that scurry across the ground, including those that move on their bellies and those that crawl, are detestable, and they must not be eaten.

42 Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creatures that crawl on the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

43 You shall not make yourselves abominable with any crawling creature that crawls, neither shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled thereby.

Do not (defile yourselves/cause you to become unacceptable to me) by [eating] any of those creatures [DOU].

44 For I am the LORD your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any kind of crawling creature that moves on the earth.

I am Yahweh your God, and I am holy, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy. You must avoid eating things that cause you to be unacceptable to me. Do not cause yourselves to become unacceptable to me by eating creatures that scurry across the ground.

45 For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

I am Yahweh, the one who freed you from [being slaves in] Egypt, in order to be your God. Therefore, because I am holy, you must be holy.

46 "'This is the law of the animal, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that crawls on the earth,

'Those are the regulations concerning animals and birds, all the living creatures that live in water or scurry across the ground.

47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.'"

You must learn what things [I say] are acceptable to me and what things are not, and learn what things you are permitted to eat and what things you are not permitted to eat.’”