Leviticus 11

God Gives the Food Laws

1 The Lord told Moses and Aaron.

2 Tell the Israelites, these are the animals you can eat from all the land animals.

Clean Land Animals

3 You may eat any animal that has split hooves and chews the cud.

4 But you must not eat animals that only chew the cud or only have split hooves. The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean for you.

5 The rock badger chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean for you.

6 The rabbit chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean for you.

7 The pig has split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean for you.

8 You must not eat their meat or touch their dead bodies. They are unclean for you.

Clean & Unclean Water Animals

9 Of all the creatures in the water, you may eat anything that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in rivers.

10 But anything in the seas or rivers that does not have fins and scales, whether small creatures or large, is detestable to you.

11 They must be considered disgusting. You must not eat their meat, and you must consider their dead bodies unclean.

12 Anything in the water that does not have fins and scales is unclean for you.

Unclean Birds

13 These are the birds you must consider unclean and must not eat. The eagle, vulture, and black vulture.

14 The kite, falcon, and all kinds of hawks.

15 All kinds of ravens.

16 The ostrich, owl, seagull, and all types of hawks.

17 The little owl, cormorant, and great owl.

18 The white owl, desert owl, and osprey.

19 The stork, all kinds of herons, the hoopoe, and the bat.

Unclean Insects

20 All winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.

21 But you may eat insects that have jointed legs for hopping, like locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.

22 You may eat all kinds of locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.

23 But all other winged insects that walk on all fours are unclean to you.

Touching Dead Animals Makes You Unclean

24 You will become unclean if you touch the dead bodies of these unclean animals. You will be unclean until evening.

25 If you pick up their dead bodies, you must wash your clothes and will remain unclean until evening.

Unclean Land Animals

26 Any animal with divided hooves that does not chew the cud is unclean. Anyone who touches them is unclean.

27 Animals that walk on paws, like cats and dogs, are unclean. Anyone who touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening.

28 Anyone who picks up their dead bodies must wash their clothes and be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

Unclean Small Creatures

29 These are unclean small creatures that crawl on the ground. The mole, rat, all kinds of lizards.

30 The gecko, monitor lizard, wall lizard, skink, and chameleon.

31 These are unclean to you among small creatures. If you touch their dead bodies, you will be unclean until evening.

Dead Animals Make Objects Unclean

32 If a dead unclean animal falls on something, that object becomes unclean. This includes wooden objects, clothes, leather, or sacks. It must be put in water and remain unclean until evening. Then it will be clean again.

33 If a dead animal falls into a clay pot, everything in it becomes unclean, and the pot must be broken.

34 Any food or drink inside the unclean pot is also unclean.

35 Anything the dead animal falls on becomes unclean, whether an oven or cooking pot. It must be broken down. They are unclean and must remain unclean for you.

36 However, if the dead animal falls into a spring or a well, the water remains clean, but whoever touches the dead animal will be unclean.

37 If the dead animal falls on seed that is supposed to be planted, the seed remains clean.

38 But if water has been put on the seed and the dead animal falls on it, the seed becomes unclean.

What to Do with Clean & Unclean Animals

39 If an animal you are allowed to eat dies naturally, anyone who touches its body will be unclean until evening.

40 Anyone who eats some of it must wash their clothes and be unclean until evening. Anyone who picks up its carcass must wash their clothes and be unclean until evening.

Small Creatures That Are Unclean

41 Every small creature that moves along the ground is unclean. Do not eat them.

42 Do not eat any animal that moves on its belly, crawls on all fours, or has many legs. They are unclean.

Be Holy Like God

43 Do not defile yourselves by eating or touching these unclean creatures.

44 I am the Lord your God, so set yourselves apart and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean with these crawling things.

45 I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.

Summary of Food Laws

46 These are the rules concerning animals, birds, and all creatures that move in the water or crawl on the ground.

47 These rules help you distinguish between what is clean and unclean, and which animals you may eat and which ones you must not eat.