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 sons of Jehovah your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for a dead person.

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 unto Jehovah thy God, and thee hath Jehovah chosen for a people of possession unto himself, out of all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

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

Thou shalt 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 ox, the sheep, and the goat;

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

the hart, and the gazelle, and the stag, and the wild goat, and the dishon and the oryx, and the wild sheep.

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

And every beast that hath cloven hoofs, and the feet quite split open into double hoofs, [and] which cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that 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.

Only these ye shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those with hoofs cloven and split open: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger; for they chew the cud, but have not cloven hoofs — they shall be unclean unto 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 the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, yet cheweth not the cud — it shall be unclean unto you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch.

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

These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales shall ye 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].

but whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat: it shall be unclean unto you.

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

All clean birds shall ye eat.

12 But eagles, vultures, black vultures,

But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle,

13 buzzards, all kinds of kites,

and the falcon, and the kite, and the black kite after its kind;

14 all kinds of crows,

and every raven after its kind;

15 ostriches, seagulls,

and the female ostrich, and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk after its kind;

16 owls, hawks, falcons,

the owl, and the ibis and the swan,

17 pelicans, vultures that eat dead animals, cormorants,

and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the gannet,

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

and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.

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

And every winged crawling thing shall be unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten.

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

All clean fowls shall ye 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.”

Ye shall eat of no carcase; thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it, or sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people to Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its 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 truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, the produce of the 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 before Jehovah thy God, in the place which he will choose to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear Jehovah thy God continually.

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 way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which Jehovah thy God will choose to set his name there, when Jehovah thy God blesseth 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 shalt thou give it for money, and bind the money together in thy hand, and go to the place which Jehovah thy God 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 thou shalt give the money for whatever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, 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 thou shalt not forsake the Levite that is within thy gates; for he hath no portion nor 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.

At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy 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 — for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee — and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.