Leviticus 11–13

Clean and Unclean Food

11:1–23pp—Dt 14:3–20

11The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²“Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:^{s 3}You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.

⁴“ ‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them.^t The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. ⁵The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁶The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁷And the pig,^u though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. ⁸You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.^v

⁹“ ‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. ¹⁰But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean.^{w 11}And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean.^{x 12}Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.^y

¹³“ ‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle,^a the vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴the red kite, any kind^z of black kite, ¹⁵any kind of raven,^{a 16}the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸the white owl,^b the desert owl, the osprey, ¹⁹the stork,^c any kind^d of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.^e

²⁰“ ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you.^{f 21}There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. ²²Of these you may eat any kind of locust,^g katydid, cricket or grasshopper. ²³But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.

²⁴“ ‘You will make yourselves unclean by these;^h whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.^{i 25}Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes,^j and they will be unclean till evening.^k

²⁶“ ‘Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean. ²⁷Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. ²⁸Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.^l These animals are unclean for you.

²⁹“ ‘Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you:^m the weasel, the rat,ⁿ any kind of great lizard, ³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. ³¹Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. ³²When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth.^o Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. ³³If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot.^{p 34}Any food you are allowed to eat that has come into contact with water from any such pot is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such a pot is unclean. ³⁵Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. ³⁶A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. ³⁷If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. ³⁸But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

³⁹“ ‘If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies,^q anyone who touches its carcass^r will be unclean till evening. ⁴⁰Anyone who eats some of its carcass^s must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.^t Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁴¹“ ‘Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten. ⁴²You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean. ⁴³Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures.^u Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. ⁴⁴I am the Lord your God;^v consecrate yourselves^w and be holy,^x because I am holy.^y Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground.^{z 45}I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt^a to be your God;^b therefore be holy, because I am holy.^c

⁴⁶“ ‘These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. ⁴⁷You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.^d’ ”

Purification After Childbirth

12The Lord said to Moses, ²“Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period.^{e 3}On the eighth day^f the boy is to be circumcised.^{g 4}Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. ⁵If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.

⁶“ ‘When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over,^h she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lambⁱ for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.^{aj 7}He shall offer them before the Lord to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood.

“ ‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. ⁸But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons,^k one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering.^l In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.^m’ ”

Regulations About Defiling Skin Diseases

13The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²“When anyone has a swellingⁿ or a rash or a shiny spot^o on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease,^ap they must be brought to Aaron the priest^q or to one of his sons^b who is a priest. ³The priest is to examine the sore on the skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling skin disease. When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce them ceremonially unclean.^{r 4}If the shiny spot^s on the skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days.^{t 5}On the seventh day^u the priest is to examine them,^v and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to isolate them for another seven days. ⁶On the seventh day the priest is to examine them again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them clean;^w it is only a rash. They must wash their clothes,^x and they will be clean.^{y 7}But if the rash does spread in their skin after they have shown themselves to the priest to be pronounced clean, they must appear before the priest again.^{z 8}The priest is to examine that person, and if the rash has spread in the skin, he shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease.

⁹“When anyone has a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to the priest. ¹⁰The priest is to examine them, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white and if there is raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹it is a chronic skin disease^a and the priest shall pronounce them unclean. He is not to isolate them, because they are already unclean.

¹²“If the disease breaks out all over their skin and, so far as the priest can see, it covers all the skin of the affected person from head to foot, ¹³the priest is to examine them, and if the disease has covered their whole body, he shall pronounce them clean. Since it has all turned white, they are clean. ¹⁴But whenever raw flesh appears on them, they will be unclean. ¹⁵When the priest sees the raw flesh, he shall pronounce them unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; they have a defiling disease.^{b 16}If the raw flesh changes and turns white, they must go to the priest. ¹⁷The priest is to examine them, and if the sores have turned white, the priest shall pronounce the affected person clean;^c then they will be clean.

¹⁸“When someone has a boil^d on their skin and it heals, ¹⁹and in the place where the boil was, a white swelling or reddish-white^e spot^f appears, they must present themselves to the priest. ²⁰The priest is to examine it, and if it appears to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce that person unclean. It is a defiling skin disease^g that has broken out where the boil was. ²¹But if, when the priest examines it, there is no white hair in it and it is not more than skin deep and has faded, then the priest is to isolate them for seven days. ²²If it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling disease. ²³But if the spot is unchanged and has not spread, it is only a scar from…