Leviticus 11:1–23

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.