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Leviticus 11

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Leviticus 11

Clean and Unclean Foods

1And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2"Say to the people of Israel, These are the living things which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. 3Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 4Nevertheless among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 5And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 6And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 7And the swine, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.

9"These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. 10But anything in the seas or the rivers that has not fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is an abomination to you. 11They shall remain an abomination to you; of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall have in abomination. 12Everything in the waters that has not fins and scales is an abomination to you.

13"And these you shall have in abomination among the birds, they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, 14the kite, the falcon according to its kind, 15every raven according to its kind, 16the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk according to its kind, 17the owl, the cormorant, the ibis, 18the water hen, the pelican, the carrion vulture, 19the stork, the heron according to its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

20"All winged insects that go upon all fours are an abomination to you. 21Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet, with which to leap on the earth. 22Of them you may eat: the locust according to its kind, the bald locust according to its kind, the cricket according to its kind, and the grasshopper according to its kind. 23But all other winged insects which have four feet are an abomination to you.

Unclean Animals

24"And by these you shall become unclean; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 25and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26Every animal which parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you; every one who touches them shall be unclean. 27And all that go on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 28and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

29"And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, the mouse, the great lizard according to its kind, 30the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31These are unclean to you among all that swarm; whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. 32And anything upon which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or a garment or a skin or a sack, any vessel that is used for any purpose; it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean. 33And if any of them falls into any earthen vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it. 34Any food in it which may be eaten, upon which water may come, shall be unclean; and all drink which may be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean. 35And everything upon which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. 36Nevertheless a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean; but whatever touches their carcass shall be unclean. 37And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed for sowing that is to be sown, it is clean; 38but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

39"And if any animal of which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 40and he who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; he also who carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

41"Every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth is an abomination; it shall not be eaten. 42Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, all the swarming things that swarm upon the earth, you shall not eat; for they are an abomination. 43You shall not make yourselves abominable with any swarming thing that swarms; and you shall not defile yourselves with them, lest you become unclean. 44For I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls upon the earth. 45For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy."

46This is the law pertaining to beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms upon the earth, 47to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.