Deuteronomy 14:1–21

FORBIDDEN PRACTICES

14“You are sons of the Lord your God;^a do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head^A on behalf of the dead,^{b 2}for you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be his own possession^c out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN FOODS

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

oxen, sheep, goats,

⁵deer, gazelles, roe deer,

wild goats, ibexes, antelopes,

and mountain sheep.

⁶You may eat any animal that has hooves divided in two and chews the cud.^{B 7}But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves, you are not to eat these:

camels, hares, and hyraxes,

though they chew the cud, they do not have hooves—

they are unclean for you;

⁸and pigs, though they have hooves, they do not chew the cud—

they are unclean for you.

Do not eat their meat or touch their carcasses.^d

⁹“You may eat everything from the water that has fins and scales, ¹⁰but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales—it is unclean for you.^e

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

eagles, bearded vultures,

black vultures, ¹³the kites,

any kind of falcon,^C

¹⁴every kind of raven, ¹⁵ostriches,

short-eared owls, gulls,

any kind of hawk,

¹⁶little owls, long-eared owls,

barn owls, ¹⁷eagle owls,

ospreys, cormorants, ¹⁸storks,

any kind of heron,

hoopoes, and bats.^Af

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

²¹“You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to a resident alien within your city gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.