Deuteronomy 14
1 Sons, are ye unto Yahweh your God, —ye shall not cut yourselves, neither shall ye put 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, thou art unto Yahweh thy God, —and, of thee, did Yahweh make choice, that thou shouldest become his people as a treasure, above all the peoples that are on the face of the ground.
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 young of sheep, and the young of goats;
The animals [whose meat] you are permitted to eat are cattle, sheep, goats,
5 the hart and the gazelle and the roebuck, —and the wild goat and the mountain goat, and the wild ox, and the mountain sheep.
deer, gazelles, wild goats, antelopes, and mountain sheep.
6 And every beast that parteth the hoof and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, chewing the cud, among beasts, the same, shall 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 them that chew the cud, and of them that divide the cloven hoof, —the camel and the hare and the rabbit for, though they do chew the cud, yet the hoof, do they not part, unclean, they are 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 though he doth divide the hoof, yet he cheweth not the cud, unclean, he is unto you, —of their flesh, shall ye not eat, and their carcases, 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 These, may ye eat of all that that are in the waters, —whatsoever hath fins and scales, ye may eat;
You are permitted to eat any fish that has scales and fins.
10 and, whatsoever hath not, fins and scales, ye may not eat, —unclean, it is 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 Of every clean bird, ye may eat;
“You are permitted to eat the flesh of any bird that is acceptable [to Yahweh].
12 saving these, of which ye may not eat, —the eagle and the ossifrage and the osprey;
But eagles, vultures, black vultures,
13 and the vulture and the kite, and the falcon after its kind;
buzzards, all kinds of kites,
14 and every raven after its kind;
all kinds of crows,
15 and the female ostrich, and the male ostrich and the sea-gull, —and the hawk, after its kind;
ostriches, seagulls,
16 and the pelican and the bittern, and the swan;
owls, hawks, falcons,
17 and the vomiting pelican and the little vulture and the gannet;
pelicans, vultures that eat dead animals, cormorants,
18 and the stork, and the parrot, after its kind, —and the mountain-cock, and the bat.
storks, herons, hoopoes, and bats, you must not eat.
19 And, as for every creeping thing that flieth, unclean, it is unto 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 All clean fowls, ye may 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: to the sojourner who is within thy gates, mayest thou give it and he may eat it or thou mayest sell it to a foreigner, for a holy people, art thou unto Yahweh thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid, in the milk of its dam.
“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 surely tithe, all the increase 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 Yahweh thy God—in the place which he shall choose to make a habitation for his name there, —the tithe of thy corn thy new wine and thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock, —that thou mayest learn to revere Yahweh 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 But, when the way becometh too long for thee because thou canst not carry it, because the place is too far for thee which Yahweh thy God shall choose to put his name there, —because Yahweh thy God blesseth 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 silver, —and shalt bind up the silver in thy hand, and shalt journey unto the place, which Yahweh thy 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 shalt turn the silver into whatsoever thy soul desireth—of the herd or of the flock, or of wine or of strong drink, or of whatsoever thy soul shall ask thee for, —and shalt eat it there, before Yahweh thy God, and 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, thou shalt not forsake him, —for he hath neither 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 thine increase in that year, —and shalt lay it up 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 the Levite shall come in—because he hath neither portion nor inheritance with thee—and the sojourner and the fatherless and the widow who are within thy gates, and they shall eat and be satisfied, —that Yahweh thy God may bless thee, in all the work of thy hand which thou shalt 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.”
