The Holy Bible

Forbidden Practices

are the children of the Lord your God. You must not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead,  2  for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be the people of His own possession, out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Clean and Unclean Foods

3 “You must not eat any detestable thing.  4  These are the animals that you may eat:

The ox, the sheep, the goat,
5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck,
the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope,
and the mountain-sheep.ℝ

6 “You may eat any animal that has a hoof divided in two, and chews the cud, among the animals.  7  However, of those that chew the cud or have divided hooves you are not to eat these:

The camel, the hare, and the rock badger,
for though they all chew the cud, they do not have divided hooves—
they are unclean for you;
8 and the pig,
although it has divided hooves, it does not chew the cud—
it is unclean for you.
You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses.ℝ

9 “Of everything that lives in the water these you may eat: you may eat anything that has fins and scales,  10  but whatever does not have fins and scales you are not to eat—it is unclean for you.

11  “You may eat any clean bird,  12  but these you may not eat:

The eagle, the vulture,
the black vulture,  13  the kite,
any type of falcon,
14 any kind of raven,  15  the ostrich,
the screech owl, the seagull,
any kind of hawk,
16 the little owl, the great owl,
the white owl,  17  the desert owl,
the osprey, the cormorant,  18  the stork,
any kind of heron,
the hoopoe, and the bat.ℝ

19  All winged insects are unclean for you; they are not to be eaten.  20  You may eat any clean bird.

21  “You must not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien living in your towns, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.

“You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Regulations for Tithing

22  “Each year you are to set apart a tenth of all the grain grown in your fields.  23  You are to eat the tithe of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, in the presence of the Lord your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling place for His Name, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.  24  But if the distance is too far for you so that you are not able to carry it, when the Lord your God has blessed you, since the place where the Lord your God will choose to put his Name is so far away,  25  then you may exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place the Lord your God will choose.  26  You may spend the money on whatever your heart desires: for cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever your heart desires. Then you and your household will eat there in the presence of the Lord and rejoice.  27  But you must not neglect the Levite who is living in your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance of his own among you.

28  “At the end of every third year, you are to bring out the tithe of your produce for that year, and store it within your towns.  29  Then the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow who are in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lord may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.”