Leviticus 11

1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying unto them,

Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,

2 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, This [is] the beast which ye do eat out of all the beasts which [are] on 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 any dividing a hoof, and cleaving the cleft of the hoofs, bringing up the cud, among the beasts, it ye do 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 'Only, this ye do not eat — of those bringing up the cud, and of those dividing the hoof — the camel, though it is bringing up the cud, yet the hoof not dividing — it [is] unclean 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 rabbit, though it is bringing up the cud, yet the hoof it divideth not — unclean it [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, though it is bringing up the cud, yet the hoof hath not divided — unclean it [is] to you;

Rabbits chew their cuds but do not have split hooves, so they are unacceptable for you to eat.

7 and the sow, though it is dividing the hoof, and cleaving the cleft of the hoof, yet the cud it bringeth not up — unclean it [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 ye do not eat, and against their carcase ye do not come — 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 'This ye do eat of all which [are] in the waters; any one that hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the brooks, them ye do 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 and any one that hath not fins and scales in the seas, and in the brooks, of any teeming creature of the waters, and of any creature which liveth, which [is] in the waters — an abomination they [are] to you;

But you must detest [and not eat] those that do not have fins and scales. That includes ones that are very small.

11 yea, an abomination they are to you; of their flesh ye do not eat, and their carcase ye abominate.

You must despise them, and you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses.

12 'Any one that hath not fins and scales in the waters — an abomination it [is] to you.

You must detest everything that lives in the water that does not have fins and scales.

13 'And these ye do abominate of the fowl; they are not eaten, an abomination they [are]: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

There are some birds that you must detest [and not eat]. They include eagles, bearded vultures, black vultures,

14 and the vulture, and the kite after its kind,

kites, any kind of falcon/buzzard,

15 every raven after its kind,

any kind of raven,

16 and the owl, and the night-hawk, and the cuckoo, and the hawk after its kind,

horned owls, screech owls, seagulls, any kind of hawk,

17 and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,

small owls, cormorants, large owls,

18 and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle,

white owls, desert owls, vultures that eat dead animals,

19 and the stork, the heron after its kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

storks, any kind of heron, hoopoes, and bats.

20 'Every teeming creature which is flying, which is going on four — an abomination it [is] to you.

You must detest [and not eat] flying insects that [sometimes] walk on the ground [MTY].

21 'Only — this ye do eat of any teeming thing which is flying, which is going on four, which hath legs above its feet, to move with them on 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 ye do eat: the locust after its kind, and the bald locust after its kind, and the beetle after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind;

They include locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.

23 and every teeming thing which is flying, which hath four feet — an abomination it [is] to you.

But you must detest [and not eat] other insects with wings that have four legs.

24 'And by these ye are made unclean, any one who is coming against their carcase is unclean till 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 anyone who is lifting up [aught] of their carcase doth wash his garments, and hath been unclean till the evening: —

Anyone who picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes and not touch other people until that evening.

26 even every beast which is dividing the hoof, and is not cloven-footed, and the cud is not bringing up — unclean they [are] to you; any one who is coming against them is 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 any one going on its paws, among all the beasts which are going on four — unclean they [are] to you; any one who is coming against their carcase is 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 who is lifting up their carcase doth wash his garments, and hath been unclean until the evening — unclean they [are] to 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 this [is] to you the unclean among the teeming things which are teeming on the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise 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 lizard, and the snail, and the mole;

geckos, skinks, and chameleons.

31 these [are] the unclean to you among all which are teeming; any one who is coming against them in their death is unclean till 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 anything on which any one of them falleth, in their death, is unclean, of any vessel of wood or garment or skin or sack, any vessel in which work is done is brought into water, and hath been unclean till the evening, then it hath been 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 any earthen vessel, into the midst of which [any] one of them falleth, all that [is] in its midst is unclean, and it ye do break.

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 which is eaten, that on which cometh [such] water, is unclean, and all drink which is drunk in any [such] vessel is 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 anything on which [any] of their carcase falleth is unclean (oven or double pots), it is broken down, unclean they [are], yea, unclean they are 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 'Only — a fountain or pit, a collection of water, is clean, but that which is coming against their carcase is 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] of their carcase falleth on any sown seed which is sown — it [is] clean;

If one of those carcasses falls on seeds that are to be planted, those seeds are still acceptable to be planted.

38 and when water is put on the seed, and [any] of its carcase hath fallen on it — 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 to you for food dieth, he who is coming against its carcase is unclean till 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 who is eating of its carcase doth wash his garments, and hath been unclean till the evening; and he who is lifting up its carcase doth wash his garments, and hath been unclean till 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 every teeming thing which is teeming on the earth is an abomination, it is not 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 any thing going on the belly, and any going on four, unto every multiplier of feet, to every teeming thing which is teeming on the earth — ye do not eat them, for they [are] an abomination;

43 ye do not make yourselves abominable with any teeming thing which is teeming, nor do ye make yourselves unclean with them, so that ye have been unclean thereby.

Do not (defile yourselves/cause you to become unacceptable to me) by [eating] any of those creatures [DOU].

44 'For I [am] Jehovah your God, and ye have sanctified yourselves, and ye have been holy, for I [am] holy; and ye do not defile your persons with any teeming thing which is creeping on 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 [am] Jehovah who am bringing you up out of the land of Egypt to become your God; and ye have been holy, for I [am] holy.

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] a law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature which is moving in the waters, and of every creature which is teeming on the earth,

'Those are the regulations concerning animals and birds, all the living creatures that live in water or scurry across the ground.

47 to make separation between the unclean and the pure, and between the beast that is eaten, and the beast that is not 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.’”