LEVITICUS 11

Now Yehowah spoke to Moses and Aaron, and said, 2 speak I to the sons of Israel, and say, These are the living things* which you may eat from among all the animals that are in the world. 3 Whichever of the animals has a parted hoof, having a cleft in its hoofs, and chews the cud, this you may eat. 4 But you shall not eat any of those which only chew the cud or only have a parted hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have a parted hoof, is unclean for you; 5 and the coney, because it chews the cud but does not have a parted hoof, is unclean for you; 6 and the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have a parted hoof, is unclean for you; 7 and the pig, because it has a parted hoof, having a cleft in its hoof, but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. 8 You shall not eat any of their flesh, nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. * The identification of many of the living things named in this chapter is uncertain

9 From among all that are in the waters you may eat the following: all in the waters, in the seas and the rivers, that have fins and scales, you may eat. 10 And all in the seas and the rivers that do not have fins and scales, from among all that swarm in the waters and all living creatures in the waters, shall be abhorrent to you; 11 and they shall remain abhorrent to you; you shall not eat any of their flesh, for you shall hold their carcasses in abhorrence. 12 Everything in the waters that has no fins and scales shall be abhorrent to you.

13 And you shall hold the following in abhorrence among the birds; they shall not be eaten, for they are abhorrent: eagles, ossifrages, and ospreys; 14 kites, and falcons after their kinds; 15 all ravens after their kinds; 16 owls, nighthawks, seamews, and hawks after their kinds; 17 little owls, pelicans, and great owls; 18 horned owls, cormorants, and vultures; 19 storks, and herons after their kinds; hoopoes, and bats.

20 All winged swarming things that go on all fours shall be abhorrent to you. 21 Yet of all the winged creatures that go on all fours, you may eat those which have jointed legs so that they can jump over the ground. 22 You may eat the following: locusts after their kinds; bald locusts after their kinds; crickets after their kinds; and grasshoppers after their kinds. 23 But all other winged swarming things which have four feet shall be abhorrent to you.

24 And by these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of one of them shall be unclean till evening. 25 And whoever carries any part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean till evening. 26 Every animal which has a parted hoof but does not have a cleft or chew the cud is unclean for you; every one who touches them shall be unclean. 27 And whatever goes on its paws, among all the wild animals that go on all fours, shall be unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses shall be unclean till evening. 28 And he who carries the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean till evening; they are unclean for you.

29 And the following are unclean for you among the small things that teem on the earth: weasels, mice, and great lizards after their kinds; 30 geckos, sand-geckos, lizards, sand-lizards, and chameleons. 31 These are unclean for you among all things that swarm; whoever touches any of them when they are dead shall be unclean till the evening. 32 And that thing which any of them falls upon when dead shall be unclean; whether it is any article of wood, clothing, skin, or sacking, or any article by which work is done, it must be put into water and shall be unclean till the evening; then it shall be clean. 33 And whatever is in any earthenware vessel into which any one of them may fall shall be unclean; and you shall break the vessel. 34 Any food ready to eat on which such water falls shall be unclean; and anything which might be drunk from any such vessel shall be unclean. 35 And anything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; if it is an oven or a pot it shall be broken, for such things have become unclean; and they shall be unclean for you. 36 Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern gathering running water shall remain clean. Yet what touches their carcass shall be unclean. 37 And if any part of their carcass falls on any seed ready to be sown it shall remain clean; 38 but if any water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass then falls on it, it shall be unclean for you.

39 And if any animal which you can eat should die, he who touches its carcass shall be unclean till the evening. 40 And he who eats any of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean till the evening; and he who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean till the evening.

41 And every thing that swarms on the ground shall be abhorrent; it shall not be eaten. 42 Whatever goes on its belly, whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, among all the things that swarm on the earth, those you shall not eat for they are abhorrent. 43 Do not make yourselves abhorrent by any thing that swarms, and do not make yourselves unclean by them, or else you will be defiled by them. 44 For I Yehowah am your God; sanctify yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am holy. Do not defile yourselves by any kind of thing that swarms on the ground. 45 For I Yehowah am bringing you up out of the land of Egypt, so that I may be your God; you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

46 This is the law concerning animals, birds, all living creatures moving in the waters, and all creatures swarming on the ground, 47 so as to distinguish between what is unclean and what is clean, and between those living things that may be eaten and those living things that may not be eaten.