Leviticus 11
1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying unto them:
Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,
2 Speak ye unto the sons of Israel saying, —These are the living things which ye may eat, of all the beasts which are upon 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 Whatsoever parteth the hoof and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud among beasts, that, may ye 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, shall ye not eat, of them that chew the cud, and of them that part the hoof, —the camel, because though he, cheweth the cud, yet, the hoof, he parteth not, unclean, he is 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 And, the coney, because, though he cheweth the cud, yet, the hoof, he parteth not, —unclean, he is to you;
Rock badgers chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.
6 And the hare, because though she cheweth the cud, yet the hoof, she parteth not, —unclean, she is to you;
Rabbits chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.
7 And, the swine, because though he parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, yet, the cud, he cheweth not, —unclean, he is 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, shall ye not eat, and, their carcase, shall ye not touch, —unclean, they are to you.
All of those animals are unacceptable for you, so you must not eat their meat or even touch their carcasses.
9 these, may ye eat, of all that are in the waters, —all that have fins and scales in the waters, in the seas and in the rivers, them, may ye 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 But, all that have not fins and scales, in the seas and in the rivers, of all that swarm in the waters, and of all the living souls that are in the waters, an abomination, they are unto 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 an abomination, shall they remain to you, —of their flesh, ye shall not eat, and their carcases, shall ye abhor.
You must despise them, and you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses.
12 Whatsoever hath not fins and scales in the waters, an abomination, it is unto you.
You must detest everything that lives in the water that does not have fins and scales.
13 And, these, shall ye abhor of birds, they shall not be eaten, an abomination, they are, —the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey;
There are some birds that you must detest [and not eat]. They include eagles, bearded vultures, black vultures,
14 and the vulture, and the falcon, after its kind;
kites, any kind of falcon/buzzard,
15 every raven, after its kind;
any kind of raven,
16 and the female ostrich, and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, —and the hawk after its kind;
horned owls, screech owls, seagulls, any kind of hawk,
17 and the pelican and the gannet, and the bittern;
small owls, cormorants, large owls,
18 and the swan and the vomiting pelican and the little vulture;
white owls, desert owls, vultures that eat dead animals,
19 and the stork, and the parrot, after its kind, —and the mountain-cock and the bat.
storks, any kind of heron, hoopoes, and bats.
20 Every creeping thing that flieth, that goeth on all-fours, an abomination, it is unto you.
You must detest [and not eat] flying insects that [sometimes] walk on the ground [MTY].
21 Nevertheless, these, may ye eat, of all creeping things that fly, that go on all-fours, —such as have legs above their feet, to leap therewith, upon 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 these of them, may ye eat: the swarming-locust after its kind, and the devouring locust after its kind, —and the chargol-locust after its kind, and the chagab-locust after its kind.
They include locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.
23 But every [other] creeping thing that flieth, which hath four feet, an abomination, it is unto you;
But you must detest [and not eat] other insects with wings that have four legs.
24 and, for these, shall ye count yourselves unclean—whosoever toucheth the carcase 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 and whosoever beareth away aught of the carcase of them, 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 As for every kind of beast which, though it parteth the hoof, yet is not cloven-footed nor cheweth the cud, unclean, they are unto you, —every one who toucheth 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 And, all that go upon their paws, among all the living things that go on all-fours, unclean, they are unto you, —whoso toucheth the carcase of them, 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 And, he that beareth away the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and shall be unclean until the evening, —unclean, they are unto 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 And, these, unto you, shall be unclean, among the creeping things that creep upon the earth, —the weasel and the mouse, and the lizard after its kind;
‘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 and the ferret and the chameleon and the wall-lizard, —and the winding lizard, and the mole.
geckos, skinks, and chameleons.
31 These, are they which are unclean to you among all that creep, —whosoever toucheth 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 and, everything whereon any of them shall fall when they are dead shall be unclean—of any articles of wood, or cloth, or skin, or sackcloth, any article wherewith any work is done, —shall be put in water and shall be unclean until the evening, and then 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 And, as for any earthen vessel whereinto any of them may fall, everything therein shall be unclean, and, the vessel itself, shall ye break in pieces.
If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it becomes defiled, and you must break that pot into pieces.
34 Of all the food that may be eaten, that whereon shall come water, shall be unclean, —and, all drink which might be drunk in any [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 And, everything whereon shall fall any part of the carcase of them shall be unclean, oven or fire-range, it shall be destroyed, unclean, they are, —and, unclean, Shall they remain 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 Notwithstanding, a fountain or cistern wherein is a gathering of waters shall be clean, —but, he that toucheth the carcase of them 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 And when any part of the carcase of them shall fall upon seed for sowing, which is to be sown, the same 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, when water shall be put upon seed, and there shall fall thereon any part of the carcase of them, unclean, it is 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 And, when any of the beasts which are yours for food shall die, he that toucheth the carcase of it 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 And, he that eateth of the carcase of it, shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening, —he also that carrieth away the carcase thereof 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 And, any creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, an abomination, it is—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 Everything that goeth upon the belly, and everything that goeth upon all-fours, even to everything having many feet, as regardeth any creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, ye shall not eat them for, an abomination, they are.
43 Do not make your persons abominable, with any creeping thing that creepeth, —neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should become unclean thereby.
Do not (defile yourselves/cause you to become unacceptable to me) by [eating] any of those creatures [DOU].
44 For, I—Yahweh, am your God, therefore shall ye hallow yourselves and remain holy; for, holy, am, I,—therefore shall ye not make your persons unclean, with any creeping thing that crawleth upon 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—Yahweh, am he that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, that I might become your God, —therefore shall ye be holy, for, holy, am, I.
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 beast and of bird, and of every living soul that moveth in the waters, —and as to every soul that creepeth upon the earth:
'Those are the regulations concerning animals and birds, all the living creatures that live in water or scurry across the ground.
47 That ye may make a difference—between the unclean and the clean, —and between the living thing that may be eaten, and the living thing which 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.’”
