20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

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Clean and Unclean Land Animals

11 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: “Tell the Israelites: You may eat(A) all these kinds of land animals.(B) You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud. But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves you are not to eat these:

the camel,(C) though it chews the cud,
does not have divided hooves—it is unclean for you;
the hyrax,[a](D) though it chews the cud,
does not have hooves—it is unclean for you;
the hare, though it chews the cud,
does not have hooves—it is unclean for you;
the pig, though it has divided hooves,
does not chew the cud—it is unclean for you.

Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses—they are unclean for you.(E)

Clean and Unclean Aquatic Animals

“This is what you may eat from all that is in the water: You may eat everything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or streams. 10 But these are to be detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales among all the swarming things and other living creatures(F) in the water. 11 They are to remain detestable to you; you must not eat any of their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. 12 Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales will be detestable to you.

Unclean Birds

13 “You are to detest these birds. They must not be eaten because they are detestable:

the eagle,[b](G) the bearded[c] vulture,
the black vulture,[d] 14 the kite,[e]
any kind of falcon,[f](H)
15 every kind of raven, 16 the ostrich,[g]
the short-eared owl,[h] the gull,[i]
any kind of hawk,(I)
17 the little[j] owl, the cormorant,[k]
the long-eared owl,[l](J)
18 the white[m] owl, the desert owl,[n](K)
the osprey,[o] 19 the stork,[p]
any kind of heron,[q]
the hoopoe, and the bat.

Clean and Unclean Flying Insects

20 “All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. 21 But you may eat these kinds of all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground. 22 You may eat these:

any kind of locust,(L) katydid, cricket, and grasshopper.

23 All other winged insects that have four feet are to be detestable to you.

Purification after Touching Dead Animals

24 “These will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean(M) until evening, 25 and whoever carries any of their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.(N) 26 All animals that have hooves but do not have a divided hoof and do not chew the cud are unclean for you. Whoever touches them becomes unclean. 27 All the four-footed animals(O) that walk on their paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, 28 and anyone who carries their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

29 “These creatures that swarm(P) on the ground are unclean for you:

the weasel,[r] the mouse,(Q)
any kind of large lizard,[s]
30 the gecko, the monitor lizard,[t]
the common lizard,[u] the skink,[v]
and the chameleon.[w]

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

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 11:5 A rabbit-like animal
  2. Leviticus 11:13 Or griffon-vulture
  3. Leviticus 11:13 Or black
  4. Leviticus 11:13 Or the osprey, or the bearded vulture
  5. Leviticus 11:14 Or hawk
  6. Leviticus 11:14 Or buzzards, or hawks
  7. Leviticus 11:16 Or eagle owl
  8. Leviticus 11:16 Or the night hawk, or the screech owl
  9. Leviticus 11:16 Or long-eared owl
  10. Leviticus 11:17 Or tawny
  11. Leviticus 11:17 Or fisher owl, or pelican
  12. Leviticus 11:17 Or the ibis
  13. Leviticus 11:18 Or little
  14. Leviticus 11:18 Or the pelican, or the horned owl
  15. Leviticus 11:18 Or Egyptian vulture
  16. Leviticus 11:19 Or heron
  17. Leviticus 11:19 Or cormorant, or hawk
  18. Leviticus 11:29 Or mole rat, or rat
  19. Leviticus 11:29 Or of thorn-tailed or dabb lizard, or of crocodile
  20. Leviticus 11:30 Or the spotted lizard, or the chameleon
  21. Leviticus 11:30 Or the gecko, or the newt, or the salamander
  22. Leviticus 11:30 Or sand lizard, or newt, or snail
  23. Leviticus 11:30 Or salamander, or mole

Clean and Unclean Foods

“You must not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat:

the ox, the sheep, the goat,
the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer,
the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope,
and the mountain sheep.

You may eat any animal that has hooves divided in two and chews the cud. But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves, you are not to eat these:

the camel, the hare, and the hyrax,
though they chew the cud, they do not have hooves—
they are unclean for you;
and the pig, though it has hooves, it does not chew the cud—
it is unclean for you.

You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses.(A)

“You may eat everything from the water that has fins and scales, 10 but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales—it is unclean for you.(B)

11 “You may eat every clean bird, 12 but these are the ones you may not eat:

the eagle, the bearded vulture,
the black vulture, 13 the kite,
any kind of falcon,[a]
14 every kind of raven, 15 the ostrich,
the short-eared owl, the gull,
any kind of hawk,
16 the little owl, the long-eared owl,
the white owl, 17 the desert owl,
the osprey, the cormorant, 18 the stork,
any kind of heron,
the hoopoe, and the bat.[b](C)

19 All winged insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. 20 But you may eat every clean flying creature.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 14:13 Some Hb mss, Sam, LXX; other Hb mss, Vg read the falcon, the various kinds of kite
  2. Deuteronomy 14:18 The identification of some of these animals is uncertain.

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