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Deuteronomy 14:1-21
English Standard Version
Deuteronomy 14:1-21
English Standard Version
Clean and Unclean Food
14 “You are (A)the sons of the Lord your God. (B)You shall not cut yourselves or make any (C)baldness on your foreheads for the dead. 2 For (D)you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
3 (E)“You shall not eat any abomination. 4 (F)These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex,[a] the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 7 Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the (G)rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. 8 And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and (H)their carcasses you shall not touch.
9 “Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. 10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat all clean birds. 12 But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle,[b] the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 13 the kite, the falcon of any kind; 14 every raven of any kind; 15 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; 16 the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl 17 and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, 18 the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. 20 All clean winged things you may eat.
21 (I)“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For (J)you are a people holy to the Lord your God.
(K)“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 14:5 Or addax
- Deuteronomy 14:12 The identity of many of these birds is uncertain
Deuteronomy 14:1-21
New International Version
Deuteronomy 14:1-21
New International Version
Clean and Unclean Food(A)
14 You are the children(B) of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, 2 for you are a people holy(C) to the Lord your God.(D) Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.(E)
3 Do not eat any detestable thing.(F) 4 These are the animals you may eat:(G) the ox, the sheep, the goat,(H) 5 the deer,(I) the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat,(J) the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.[a] 6 You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. 7 However, of those that chew the cud or that have a divided hoof you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the hyrax. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. 8 The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.(K)
9 Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. 10 But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.
11 You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 13 the red kite, the black kite, any kind(L) of falcon,(M) 14 any kind of raven,(N) 15 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the desert owl,(O) the osprey, the cormorant, 18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.
19 All flying insects are unclean to you; do not eat them. 20 But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.(P)
21 Do not eat anything you find already dead.(Q) You may give it to the foreigner residing in any of your towns, and they may eat it, or you may sell it to any other foreigner. But you are a people holy to the Lord your God.(R)
Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.(S)
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 14:5 The precise identification of some of the birds and animals in this chapter is uncertain.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.