Laws about Animals for Food

¹The Lord spoke again to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Among all the animals which are on the earth, these are the animals which you may eat. ³ You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof [that is, a hoof split into two parts especially at its distal extremity] and chews the cud. ⁴ Nevertheless, you are not to eat these, among those which chew the cud or divide the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is [ceremonially] unclean to you. ⁵ And the ^[a]shaphan, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁶ And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁷ And the swine, because it divides the hoof and makes a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean to you. ⁸ You shall not eat their meat nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

⁹ ‘These you may eat, whatever is in the water: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, these you may eat; ¹⁰ but whatever does not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all the teeming life in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are [to be considered] detestable to you. ¹¹ They shall be ^[b]hated things to you. You may not eat their meat; you shall detest their carcasses. ¹² Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

Avoid the Unclean

¹³ ‘These you shall detest among the birds; they are not to be eaten, for they are ^[c]hated things: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, ¹⁴ the kite, every kind of falcon, ¹⁵ every kind of raven, ¹⁶ the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, every species of hawk, ¹⁷ the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the pelican, the carrion vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, all kinds of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ ‘All winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you; ²¹ yet of all winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet with which to leap on the ground. ²² Of these you may eat: the whole species of migratory locust, of bald locust, of cricket, and of grasshopper. ²³ But all other winged insects which are four footed are detestable to you.

²⁴ ‘By [contact with] these you will become unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening (dusk), ²⁵ and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. ²⁶ Concerning all the animals which divide the hoof, but do not have a split hoof, or which do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you; whoever touches them becomes unclean. ²⁷ Also all animals that walk on their paws, among all kinds of animals that walk on four legs, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening, ²⁸ and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹ ‘These also are unclean to you among the swarming things that crawl around on the ground [and multiply profusely]: the mole, the mouse, and any kind of great lizard, ³⁰ the gecko, the crocodile, the lizard, the sand reptile, and the chameleon. ³¹ These [creatures] are unclean to you among all that swarm; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening. ³² Also anything on which one of them falls after dying becomes unclean, whether it is an article of wood or clothing, or a skin, or a sack—any article that is used—it must be put in water, and will be unclean until the evening; then it becomes clean. ³³ As for any earthenware container into which any of these [crawling things] falls, whatever is in it becomes unclean, and you shall break the container. ³⁴ Any of the food which may be eaten, but on which [unclean] water falls, shall become unclean, and any liquid that may be drunk in every container shall become unclean. ³⁵ Everything that part of their carcass falls on becomes unclean; an oven, or a small stove shall be smashed; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. ³⁶ Nevertheless a spring or a cistern (reservoir) collecting water shall be clean; but whoever touches one of these carcasses shall be unclean. ³⁷ If a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean; ³⁸ but if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ ‘If one of the animals that you may eat dies [of natural causes], whoever touches its carcass becomes unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰ And whoever eats some of its meat shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening; also whoever picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹ ‘Now everything that swarms on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten. ⁴² Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, and whatever has many feet among all things that swarm on the ground, you shall not eat; for they are detestable. ⁴³ Do not make yourselves loathsome (impure, repulsive) by [eating] any swarming thing; you shall not make yourselves unclean by them so as to defile yourselves. ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm or crawls on the ground. ⁴⁵ For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

⁴⁶ This is the law regarding the animal and the bird and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, ⁴⁷ to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] unclean and the [ceremonially] clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.