Deuteronomy 14–16

Forbidden Practices

14“You are sons of the Lord your God; ^gdo not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head ^hon behalf of the dead, ⁱ²for you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be His own possession ^jout 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:

the ox, the sheep, the goat,

⁵the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer,

the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope,

and the mountain sheep.

⁶You may eat any animal that has hooves divided in two and chews the cud. ⁷But 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;

⁸and 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. ^k

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. ^l

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

the eagle, the bearded vulture,

the black vulture, ¹³the kite,

any kind of falcon, ^m

¹⁴every kind of raven, ¹⁵the ostrich,

the short-eared owl, the gull,

any kind of hawk,

¹⁶the little owl, the long-eared owl,

the white owl, ¹⁷the desert owl,

the osprey, the cormorant, ¹⁸the stork,

any kind of heron,

the hoopoe, and the bat. ^no

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

²¹“You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to a temporary resident living within your 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. You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

A Tenth for the Lord

²²“Each year you are to set aside a tenth of all the produce grown in your fields. ²³You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, in the presence of Yahweh your God at the place where He chooses to have His name dwell, ^qso that you will always learn to fear ^rthe Lord your God. ²⁴But if the distance is too great for you to carry it, since the place where Yahweh your God chooses to put His name is too far away from you and since the Lord your God has blessed you, ²⁵then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place the Lord your God chooses. ²⁶You may spend the money on anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or anything you desire. You are to feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your family. ²⁷Do not neglect the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you. ^s

²⁸“At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and store it within your gates. ²⁹Then the Levite, who has no portion or inheritance among you, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come, eat, and be satisfied. ^tAnd the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do. ^u

Debts Canceled

15“At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. ^v2This is how to cancel debt: Every creditor ^wis to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the Lord’s release of debts has been proclaimed. ³You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

⁴“There will be no poor among you, however, because the Lord is certain to bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance ^x— ⁵if only you obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow every one of these commands I am giving you today. ⁶When the Lord your God blesses you as He has promised you, you will lend to many nations but not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

Lending to the Poor

⁷“If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your gates in the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. ⁸Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has. ⁹Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty. ¹⁰Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart ^ywhen you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do. ^z11For there will never cease to be poor people in the land; ^athat is why I am commanding you, ‘You must willingly open your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land.’

Release of Slaves

¹²“If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year. ^b13When you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You are to give him whatever the Lord your God has blessed you with. ¹⁵Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed ^cyou; that is why I am giving you this command today. ^d16But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and is well off with you, ¹⁷take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave for life. Also treat your female slave the same way. ¹⁸Do not regard it as a hardship ^ewhen you set him free, because he worked for you six years—worth twice the wages of a hired hand. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. ^f

Consecration of Firstborn Animals

¹⁹“You must consecrate to the Lord your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock. ^gYou are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock. ²⁰Each year you and your family are to eat it before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses. ²¹But if there is a defect in the animal, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²²Eat it within your gates; both the unclean person and the clean may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or deer. ²³But you must not eat its blood; pour it on the ground like water. ^h

The Festival of Passover

16“Observe the month of Abib ^ijand celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night in the month of Abib. ^k2Sacrifice to Yahweh your God a Passover animal from the herd or flock in the place where the Lord chooses to have His name dwell. ^l3You must not eat leavened bread with it. ^mFor seven days you are to eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of hardship—because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry ⁿ—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt. ⁴No yeast is to be found anywhere in your territory for seven days, ^oand none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day is to remain until morning. ^p5You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns the Lord your God is giving you. ⁶You must only sacrifice the Passover animal at the place where Yahweh your God chooses to have His name dwell. Do this in the evening as the sun sets at the same time of day you departed from Egypt. ⁷You are to cook and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses, and you are to return to your tents in the morning. ⁸You must eat unleavened bread for six days. On the seventh day there is to be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God, and you must not do any work.

The Festival of Weeks

⁹“You are to count seven weeks, counting the weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. ^q10You are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks ^rto the Lord your God with a freewill offering ^sthat you give in proportion to how the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹¹Rejoice ^tbefore Yahweh your God in the place where He chooses to have His name dwell—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow among you. ¹²Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; carefully follow these statutes.

The Festival of Booths

¹³“You are to celebrate the Festival of Booths ^ufor seven days when you have gathered in everything from your threshing floor and winepress. ^v14Rejoice during your festival—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, as well as the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates. ¹⁵You are to hold a seven-day festival for the Lord your God in the place He chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, ^wand you will have abundant joy.

¹⁶“All your males are to appear three times a year ^xbefore the Lord your God in the place He chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. No one is to appear before the Lord empty-handed. ^y17Everyone must appear with a gift suited to his means, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you.

Appointing Judges and Officials

¹⁸“Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. ¹⁹Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. ^z20Pursue justice and justice alone, so that you will live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you. ^a

Forbidden Worship

²¹“Do not set up an Asherah of any kind of wood next to the altar you will build for the Lord your God, ²²and do not set up a…