Deuteronomy 14

1 “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].

Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not make any baldness between you eyes for the dead.

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

For thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God, and the Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a peculiar people to himself of all the nations on the face of the earth.

3 “Do not eat anything that [Yahweh] detests.

Ye shall not eat any abominable thing.

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

These [are] the beasts which ye shall eat; the calf of the herd, and lamb of the sheep, and kid of the goats;

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

the stag, and doe, and pygarg, and wild goat, and camelopard.

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

Every beast that divides the hoofs, and makes claws of two divisions, and that chews the cud among beasts, these ye shall eat.

7 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.

And these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, and of those that divide the hoofs, and make distinct claws; the camel, and the hare, and the rabbit; because they chew the cud, and do not divide the hoof, these are unclean to you.

8 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.

And as for the swine, because he divides the hoof, and makes claws of the hoof, yet he chews not the cud, he is unclean to you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, ye shall not touch their dead bodies.

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

And these ye shall eat of all that are in the water, ye shall eat all that have fins and scales.

10 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].

And all that have not fins and scales ye shall not eat; they are unclean to you.

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

Ye shall eat every clean bird.

12 But eagles, vultures, black vultures,

And these of them ye shall not eat; the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle,

13 buzzards, all kinds of kites,

and the vulture, and the kite and the like to it,

14 all kinds of crows,

15 ostriches, seagulls,

and the sparrow, and the owl, and the seamew,

16 owls, hawks, falcons,

and the heron, and the swan, and the stork,

17 pelicans, vultures that eat dead animals, cormorants,

and the cormorant, and the hawk, and its like, and the hoopoe, and the raven,

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

and the pelican, and the diver and the like to it, and the red-bill and the bat.

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

All winged animals that creep are unclean to you; ye shall not eat of them.

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

Ye shall eat every clean bird.

21 “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.”

Ye shall eat nothing that dies of itself; it shall be given to the sojourner in thy cities and he shall eat it, or thou shalt sell it to a stranger, because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a lamb in his mother's milk.

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

Thou shalt tithe a tenth of all the produce of thy seed, the fruit of thy field year by year.

23 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].

And thou shalt eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to have his name called there; ye shall bring the tithe of thy corn and of thy wine, and of thine oil, the first-born of thy herd and of thy flock, that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.

24 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:

And if the journey be too far for thee, and thou art not able to bring them, because the place [is] far from thee which the Lord thy God shall choose to have his name called there, because the Lord thy God will bless thee;

25 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.

then thou shalt sell them for money, and thou shalt take the money in thy hands, and thou shalt go to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.

26 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.

And thou shalt give the money for whatsoever thy soul shall desire, for oxen or for sheep, or for wine, or [thou shalt lay it out] on strong drink, or on whatsoever thy soul may desire, and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice and thy house,

27 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.

and the Levite that is in thy cities, because he has not a portion or inheritance with thee.

28 “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.

After three years thou shalt bring out all the tithes of thy fruits, in that year thou shalt lay it up in thy cities.

29 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.”

And the Levite shall come, because he has no part or lot with thee, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow which is in thy cities; and they shall eat and be filled, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works which thou shalt do.