Deuteronomy 14
New American Standard Bible
Clean and Unclean Animals
14 “You are (A)sons of the Lord your God; (B)you shall not cut yourselves nor [a]shave a bald spot [b]above your forehead for the dead. 2 For you are (C)a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a (D)people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
3 “(E)You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 (F)These are the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 [c]the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 And any animal that has a divided hoof and has its hoofs split in two, and [d]chews the cud, among the animals, [e]that animal you may eat. 7 However, you are not to eat these among the ones that [f]chew the cud, or among those that have the hoof divided in [g]two: the camel, the [h]rabbit, and the rock hyrax, for though they [i]chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are unclean to you. 8 And the pig, because it has a divided hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, nor touch their carcasses.
9 “These you may eat of everything that is in the water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat any clean bird. 12 But (G)these are the ones that you shall not eat: the [j]eagle and the vulture and the [k]buzzard, 13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14 and every raven in its kind, 15 and the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16 the little owl, the [l]great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all the swarming insects with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 You may eat any clean bird.
21 “(H)You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the stranger who is in your [m]town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a stranger; for you are (I)a holy people to the Lord your God. (J)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
22 “You (K)shall certainly tithe all the produce from [n]what you sow, which comes from the field every year. 23 You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, (L)at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may (M)learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 But if the [o]distance is so great for you that you are not able to [p]bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses (N)to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, 25 then you shall [q]exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 26 And you may spend the money on whatever your [r]heart desires: on oxen, sheep, wine, other strong drink, or whatever your [s]heart [t]desires; and (O)there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 Also you shall not neglect (P)the Levite who is in your [u]town, (Q)for he has no portion or inheritance among you.
28 “(R)At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and you shall deposit it in your [v]town. 29 And the Levite, (S)because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and (T)the stranger, the [w]orphan, and the widow who are in your [x]town, shall come and (U)eat and be satisfied, in order that (V)the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 14:1 Lit make
- Deuteronomy 14:1 Lit between your eyes
- Deuteronomy 14:5 Exact identification of these animals is uncertain
- Deuteronomy 14:6 Lit brings up
- Deuteronomy 14:6 Lit it
- Deuteronomy 14:7 Lit bring up
- Deuteronomy 14:7 Lit a cleaving
- Deuteronomy 14:7 Or hare
- Deuteronomy 14:7 Lit bring up
- Deuteronomy 14:12 Or vulture
- Deuteronomy 14:12 Or black vulture
- Deuteronomy 14:16 Or great horned owl
- Deuteronomy 14:21 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 14:22 Lit your seed
- Deuteronomy 14:24 Lit way
- Deuteronomy 14:24 Lit carry it
- Deuteronomy 14:25 Lit give in money
- Deuteronomy 14:26 Lit soul
- Deuteronomy 14:26 Lit soul
- Deuteronomy 14:26 Lit asks of you
- Deuteronomy 14:27 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 14:28 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 14:29 Or fatherless
- Deuteronomy 14:29 Lit gates
Deuteronomy 14
Living Bible
14 “Since you are the people of God, never cut yourselves as the heathen do when they worship their idols[a] nor shave the front halves of your heads for funerals. 2 You belong exclusively to the Lord your God, and he has chosen you to be his own possession, more so than any other nation on the face of the earth.
3-5 “You are not to eat any animal I have declared to be ceremonially defiled. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.
6 “Any animal that has cloven hooves and chews the cud may be eaten, 7 but if the animal doesn’t have both, it may not be eaten. So you may not eat the camel, the hare, or the coney. They chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves. 8 Pigs may not be eaten because, although they have cloven hooves, they don’t chew the cud. You may not even touch the dead bodies of such animals.
9 “Only sea animals with fins and scales may be eaten; 10 all other kinds are ceremonially defiled.
11-18 “You may eat any bird except the following: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, the buzzard, the falcon (any variety), the raven (any variety), the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk (any variety), the screech owl, the great owl, the horned owl, the pelican, the vulture, the cormorant, the stork, the heron (any variety), the hoopoe, the bat.
19-20 “With certain exceptions,[b] insects are a defilement to you and may not be eaten.
21 “Don’t eat anything that has died a natural death. However, a foreigner among you may eat it. You may give it or sell it to him, but don’t eat it yourself, for you are holy to the Lord your God.
“You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
22 “You must tithe all of your crops every year. 23 Bring this tithe to eat before the Lord your God at the place he shall choose as his sanctuary; this applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn of your flocks and herds. The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives. 24 If the place the Lord chooses for his sanctuary is so far away that it isn’t convenient to carry your tithes to that place, 25 then you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds and take the money to the Lord’s sanctuary. 26 When you arrive, use the money to buy an ox, a sheep, some wine, or beer, to feast there before the Lord your God, and to rejoice with your household.
27 “Don’t forget to share your income with the Levites in your community, for they have no property or crops as you do.
28 “Every third year you are to use your entire tithe for local welfare programs: 29 Give it to the Levites who have no inheritance among you, or to foreigners, or to widows and orphans within your city, so that they can eat and be satisfied; and then Jehovah your God will bless you and your work.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 14:1 as the heathen do when they worship idols, implied.
- Deuteronomy 14:19 With certain exceptions, see Leviticus 11:20-23.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.