THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS

 

Leviticus Chapter 11

1 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,

2 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which you shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

3 Whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hoofs, and chews the cud, among the beasts, you may eat.

4 Nevertheless of those that chew the cud, or divide the hoof: you shall not eat the camel, because he chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof; he is unclean to you.

5 And the coney, because he chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof; he is unclean to you.

6 And the hare, because he chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof; he is unclean to you.

7 And the swine, although he divides the hoof, and is cloven-hoofed, yet he does not chew the cud; he is unclean to you.

8 You shall not eat their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcass; they are unclean to you.

9 ¶ Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales in any waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, those you may eat.

10 But all in the seas, and in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, among all that move in the waters, of any living thing that is in the waters, they shall be an abomination to you:

11 They shall even be abhorrent to you; you must not eat of their flesh, and you shall loathe their carcasses.

12 Whatever has no fins or scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination to you.

13 And these are those which you shall loathe among the flying creatures; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

14 And the vulture, and the kite after his kind;

15 Every raven after its kind;

16 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckoo, and the hawk after his kind,

17 And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,

18 And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle,

19 And the stork, the heron after its kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

20 ¶ All winged insects, that go upon all fours, shall be an abomination to you.

21 Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours, you may eat those which have legs above their feet, to leap upon the earth;

22 Of them you may eat; every kind of locust, the bald locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind.

23 But all other flying insects, which have four feet, shall be an abomination to you.

24 And by touching these you shall become unclean: whoever touches the carcass of them shall be unclean until the evening.

25 And whoever picks up any part of the carcass of one of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

26 The carcasses of every beast which divides the hoof, but is not cloven-hoofed, and does not chew the cud, are unclean to you: every one who touches them shall be unclean.

27 And whatever goes on its paws, among all kind of beasts that go on all fours, those are unclean to you: whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

28 And he who picks up the carcass of one of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean to you.

29 These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after its kind,

30 And the ferret, the chameleon, the lizard, the snail, and the mole.

31 These are unclean to you among all that creep: whoever touches them, when they are dead, shall be unclean until the evening.

32 And anything upon which any of them falls, when they are dead, shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or cloth, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, whatever purpose it is used for, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; so it shall be cleansed.

33 And every earthen vessel, to which any of them falls, whatever is in it shall be unclean; and you shall break it.

34 Of any food that may be eaten, that on which water may come shall be unclean: and all drink that may be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean.

35 And every thing on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven, or a range for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.

36 Nevertheless a fountain or pit, in which there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which touches their carcass shall be unclean.

37 And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain which is to be sown, it shall be clean.

38 But if any water is put on the seed, and any part of their carcass falls on it, it shall be unclean to you.

39 And if any beast, of which you may eat, dies; he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

40 And he who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening: likewise he who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

41 And every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten.

42 Whatever goes upon its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth, you shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

43 ¶ You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that craws, nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them.

44 For I am the LORD your God: you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

45 For 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.

46 This is the law of the beasts, and of the birds, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that craws upon the earth:

47 To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.