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].

You are the children of the Lord your God: you 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 you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord your God has chosen you 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.

You 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 you 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 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.

And these you 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; you shall not eat of their flesh, you shall not touch their dead bodies.

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

And these you shall eat of all that are in the water, you 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 you shall not eat; they are unclean to you.

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

You shall eat every clean bird.

12 But eagles, vultures, black vultures,

And these of them you 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 cormorant,

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; you shall not eat of them.

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

You 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.”

You shall eat nothing that dies of itself; it shall be given to the sojourner in your cities and he shall eat it, or you shall sell it to a stranger, because you are a holy people to the Lord your God. You shall 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.

You shall tithe a tenth of all the produce of your seed, the fruit of your 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 you shall eat it in the place which the Lord your God shall choose to have his name called there; you shall bring the tithe of your corn and of your wine, and of your oil, the firstborn of your herd and of your flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your 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 you, and you are not able to bring them, because the place [is] far from you which the Lord your God shall choose to have his name called there, because the Lord your God will bless you;

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 you shall sell them for money, and you shall take the money in your hands, and you shall go to the place which the Lord your 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 you shall give the money for whatever your soul shall desire, for oxen or for sheep, or for wine, or [you shall lay it out] on strong drink, or on whatever your soul may desire, and you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice and your 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 your cities, because he has not a portion or inheritance with you.

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 you shall bring out all the tithes of your fruits, in that year you shall lay it up in your 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 you, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow which is in your cities; and they shall eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the works which you shall do.