Leviticus 11:1–31

Clean and Unclean Animals

11Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, ²“Speak to the Israelites,^b saying, ‘These are the animals that you may eat from all the animals that are on the land: ³Any among the animals that has a divided hoof and has a split cleft in^c the hoof and that chews cud, such^d you may eat. ⁴However,^e these^f you may not eat from those that chew the cud and from those that have a^g divided hoof: the camel, because it is a chewer of cud but it does not have a hoof that is divided—it is unclean for you; ⁵and the coney, because it is a chewer of cud but it does not have a hoof that is divided—it is unclean for you; ⁶and the hare, because it is a chewer of cud but it does not have a hoof that is divided—it is unclean for you; ⁷and the pig, because it has a divided hoof and has a split cleft in^h the hoof but it does not chew cud—it is unclean for you. ⁸You must not eat from their meat, and you must not touch their dead body—they are unclean for you.

⁹“ ‘Theseⁱ you may eat from all that are in the water: any in the water that has a fin and scales, whether in the seas or^j in the streams—such^k you may eat. ¹⁰But any that does not have a fin and scales, whether in the seas or^l in the streams, among^m all the water’s swarmers among all the living creatures that are in the water—they are a detestable thing to you. ¹¹And they shall be detestable to you; you must not eat from their meat, and you must detest their dead body. ¹²Any that does not have a fin and scales in the water—it is a detestable thing to you.

¹³“ ‘And these you must detest from the birds; they must not be eaten—they are detestable: the eagle and the vulture and the short-toed eagle, ¹⁴and the red kite and the black kite according to its kind, ¹⁵every crow according to its kind, ¹⁶and the ostrichⁿ and the short-eared owl and the seagull and the hawk according to its kind, ¹⁷and the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl, ¹⁸and the barn owl and the desert owl and the carrion vulture, ¹⁹and the stork, the heron according to its kind and the hoopoe and the bat.

²⁰“ ‘Any winged insect^o that walks on all fours is detestable to you. ²¹Only this may you eat from any of the winged insects^p that walk on all fours—that which has jointed legs above its feet for leaping upon the land. ²²From these^q you may eat the locust according to its kind and the bald locust according to its kind and the cricket according to its kind and the grasshopper according to its kind. ²³But^r any other^s winged insect^t that has four legs is detestable to you. ²⁴And by these you shall become unclean—anyone who touches their dead body shall become unclean until the evening, ²⁵and anyone who carries their dead body must wash his garments, and he shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁶“ ‘With regard to any animal that has a divided hoof but does not split the hoof, or^u does not have a cud for chewing^v—they are unclean for you; anyone who touches them shall become unclean. ²⁷And anything that walks upon its paws among any of the animals^w that walks on all fours—they are unclean for you; anyone who touches their dead body shall become unclean until the evening, ²⁸and the one who carries their dead body must wash his garments, and he shall be unclean until the evening—they are unclean for you.

²⁹“ ‘And these^x are the unclean for you among the swarmers^y that swarm on the land: the weasel and the mouse and the thorn-tailed lizard according to its kind, ³⁰and the gecko and the land crocodile and the lizard and the sand lizard and the chameleon. ³¹These are the unclean for you among all the swarmers; anyone who touches them at their death shall become unclean until the evening.