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].

“Be sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make yourselves bald, because of 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 you are a holy people, for the Lord your God. And he chose you, so that you may be a people particularly his, out of all the nations on earth.

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

You shall not eat the things that are unclean.

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

These are the animals which you ought to eat: the ox, and the sheep, and the goat,

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

the stag and the roe deer, the gazelle, the wild goat, the addax, the antelope, the giraffe.

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 which has a hoof divided into two parts and which also chews the cud, you 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.

But those which chew over again, but do not have a divided hoof, you must not eat, such as the camel, the hare, and the hyrax. Since these chew the cud, but do not have a divided the hoof, they shall be 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.

The pig also, since it has a divided hoof, but does not chew over again, shall be unclean. Their flesh shall not be eaten, and you shall not touch their carcasses.

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

These you shall eat out of all that dwells in the waters: whatever has fins and scales, you shall eat.

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].

Whatever is without fins and scales, you shall not eat, for these are unclean.

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

All the clean birds, you shall eat.

12 But eagles, vultures, black vultures,

You shall not eat those that are unclean: such as the eagle, and the griffin, and the osprey,

13 buzzards, all kinds of kites,

the crane, and the vulture, and the kite, according to their kind,

14 all kinds of crows,

and any kind of raven,

15 ostriches, seagulls,

and the ostrich, and the owl, and the gull, and the hawk, according to their kind,

16 owls, hawks, falcons,

the heron, and the swan, and the ibis,

17 pelicans, vultures that eat dead animals, cormorants,

and the sea bird, the marsh hen, and the night raven,

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

the pelican and the plover, each in their kind, likewise the crested hoopoe and the bat.

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

And anything which crawls and also has little wings shall be unclean, and shall not be eaten.

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

All that is clean, you shall eat.

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.”

But whatever has died of itself, you shall not eat from it. Give it to the sojourner, who is within your gates, so that he may eat, or sell it to him. For you are the holy people of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of his mother.

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

Each year, you shall separate the tithes out of all your crops which spring forth from the earth.

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 you shall eat these in the sight of the Lord your God, in the place which he will choose, so that his name may be invoked there: the tenth part of your grain and wine and oil, and the firstborn from the herds and your sheep. So may you learn to fear the Lord your God at all times.

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:

But when the way and the place which the Lord your God will have chosen is further away, and he will have blessed you, so that you are not able to carry all these things to it,

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.

you shall sell them all, so as to turn them into money, and you shall carry it in your hand, and you shall set out for the place which the Lord will 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 you shall buy with the same money whatever pleases you, either from the herds or from the sheep, and also wine and liquor, and all that your soul desires. And you shall eat in the sight of the Lord your God, and you shall feast: you and your household.

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.

As for the Levite, who is within your gates, take care that you do not abandon him, for he has no other portion within your possession.

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.

In the third year, you shall separate another tenth part of all the things which spring forth for you at that time, and you shall store it within your gates.

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, who has no other portion or possession with you, and the sojourner as well as the orphan and the widow who are within your gates, shall approach and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the works of your hands which you shall do.”