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42 Whether it crawls on its belly, goes on all fours, or has many legs—any creature that swarms on the earth—you shall not eat them; they are loathsome. 43 Do not make yourselves loathsome by any swarming creature nor defile yourselves with them and so become unclean by them.(A) 44 For I, the Lord, am your God. You shall make and keep yourselves holy,[a] because I am holy.(B) You shall not make yourselves unclean, then, by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground.

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Footnotes

  1. 11:44–45 Keep yourselves holy…you shall be holy: a similar idea is expressed in 20:25–26. There, distinguishing between the animals is compared to God’s distinguishing between the peoples and choosing Israel.