Leviticus

1The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,

2“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.

3Whatever parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud among the animals, that you may eat.

4“‘Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those who part the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, is unclean to you.

5The hyrax,because it chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, is unclean to you.

6The hare, because it chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, is unclean to you.

7The pig, because it has a split hoof, and is cloven-footed, but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you.

8You shall not eat their meat. You shall not touch their carcasses. They are unclean to you.

9“‘You may eat of all these that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, that you may eat.

10All that don’t have fins and scales in the seas and rivers, all that move in the waters, and all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are an abomination to you,

11and you shall detest them. You shall not eat of their meat, and you shall detest their carcasses.

12Whatever has no fins nor scales in the waters is an abomination to you.

13“‘You shall detest these among the birds; they shall not be eaten because they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture,

14the red kite, any kind of black kite,

15any kind of raven,

16the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

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

18the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,

19the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

20“‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you.

21Yet you may eat these: of all winged creeping things that go on all fours, which have long, jointed legs for hopping on the earth.

22Even of these you may eat: any kind of locust, any kind of katydid, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper.

23But all winged creeping things which have four feet are an abomination to you.

24“‘By these you will become unclean: whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

25Whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

26“‘Every animal which has a split hoof that isn’t completely divided, or doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean.

27Whatever goes on its paws, among all animals that go on all fours, they are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

28He who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you.

29“‘These are they which are unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard,

30the gecko, and the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.

31These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.

32Anything they fall on when they are dead shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening. Then it will be clean.

33Every earthen vessel into which any of them falls and all that is in it shall be unclean. You shall break it.

34All food which may be eaten which is soaked in water shall be unclean. All drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean.

35Everything whereupon part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.

36Nevertheless a spring or a cistern in which water is gathered shall be clean, but that which touches their carcass shall be unclean.

37If part of their carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean.

38But if water is put on the seed, and part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

39“‘If any animal of which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

40He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

41“‘Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth is an abomination. It shall not be eaten.

42Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

43You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps. You shall not make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them.

44For I am the LORD your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth.

45For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

46“‘This is the law of the animal, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth,

47to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.’”

Clean and Unclean Animals

1The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, telling them,

2“Say to the Israelites, ‘Of all the beasts of the earth, these ones you may eat:

3You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.

4But of those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

5The rock badger,though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

6The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

7And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

8You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

9Of all the creatures that live in the water, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat anything with fins and scales.

10But the following among all the teeming life and creatures in the water are detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales.

11They shall be an abomination to you; you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses.

12Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales shall be detestable to you.

13Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

14the kite, any kind of falcon,

15any kind of raven,

16the ostrich,the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

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

18the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,

19the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

20All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.

21However, you may eat the following kinds of flying insects that walk on all fours: those having jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground.

22Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper.

23All other flying insects that have four legs are detestable to you.

24These creatures will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening,

25and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening.

26Every animal with hooves not completely dividedor that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. Whoever touches any of them will be unclean.

27All the four-footed animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening,

28and anyone who picks up a carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

29The following creatures that move along the ground are unclean for you: the mole, the mouse, any kind of great lizard,

30the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.

31These animals are unclean for you among all the crawling creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.

32When one of them dies and falls on something, that article becomes unclean; any article of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work must be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean.

33If any of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean; you must break the pot.

34Any food coming into contact with water from that pot will be unclean, and any drink in such a container will be unclean.

35Anything upon which one of their carcasses falls will be unclean. If it is an oven or cooking pot, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you.

36Nevertheless, a spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but one who touches a carcass in it will be unclean.

37If a carcass falls on any seed for sowing, the seed is clean;

38but if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

39If an animal that you may eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean until evening.

40Whoever eats from the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.

41Every creature that moves along the ground is detestable; it must not be eaten.

42Do not eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it crawls on its belly or walks on four or more feet; for such creatures are detestable.

43Do not defile yourselves by any crawling creature; do not become unclean or defiled by them.

44For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy.You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.

45For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

46This is the law regarding animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that crawl along the ground.

47You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.’”