Leviticus 11Book 3 of 66 · 47 verses · MBT primary, NKJV fallback where MBT pending

  1. Now the LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,
  2. Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'These are the living creatures which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.
  3. Among the animals, whatever has completely divided hooves and chews the cud—that you may eat.
  4. Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have divided hooves: the camel, because though it chews the cud it does not have divided hooves, is unclean to you.
  5. The rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have divided hooves, is unclean to you.
  6. The hare, because it chews the cud but does not have split hooves, is unclean to you.
  7. And the pig, though it divides the hoof and has split hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.
  8. You shall not eat their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.
  9. These you may eat of all that are in the water: everything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat.
  10. But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all the swarming creatures in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are detestable to you.
  11. They shall be detestable to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination.
  12. Whatever in the water does not have both fins and scales shall be detestable to you.
  13. And these you shall regard as detestable among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture.
  14. the kite, and the falcon of any kind;
  15. every raven of any kind,
  16. The ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind.
  17. The little owl, the cormorant, and the great owl.
  18. the white owl, the desert owl, and the carrion vulture;
  19. The stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
  20. All winged insects that walk on all fours shall be detestable to you.
  21. Yet these you may eat among all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to jump on the ground.
  22. These you may eat: any kind of locust, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind.
  23. But all other winged insects which have four feet shall be detestable to you.
  24. By these you shall become ceremonially unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening.
  25. Whoever picks up any part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.
  26. The carcass of any animal which divides the hoof but is not completely cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you, and everyone who touches it shall be unclean.
  27. And whatever walks on its paws, among all kinds of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you, and whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until evening.
  28. Whoever picks up any such carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; they are unclean to you.
  29. These also shall be unclean to you among the swarming things that creep on the earth: the mole rat, the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind.
  30. The gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the sand reptile, and the chameleon.
  31. These are unclean to you among all that swarm, and whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.
  32. Anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is any article of wood or clothing or skin or sack, whatever item it is in which any work is done, it must be put in water and it shall be unclean until evening; then it shall be clean.
  33. Any earthenware vessel into which any of them falls you shall break, and whatever is in it becomes unclean.
  34. In such a vessel, any edible food upon which water comes becomes unclean, and any drinkable liquid from it becomes unclean.
  35. And everything on which a part of any such carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven or cooking stove, it shall be broken down in pieces, for they are unclean and shall remain unclean to you.
  36. Nevertheless a spring or a cistern collecting water shall remain clean, but whatever touches any such carcass becomes unclean.
  37. And if a part of any such carcass falls on any seed grain which is to be sown, it remains clean.
  38. But if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it becomes unclean to you.
  39. And if any animal which you may eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening.
  40. He who eats any of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening, and he also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.
  41. Every swarming thing that creeps on the earth shall be detestable and it shall not be eaten.
  42. Whatever crawls on its belly, whatever walks on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all creatures that swarm on the earth—these you shall not eat, for they are detestable.
  43. You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them.
  44. For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any swarming creature that creeps on the ground.
  45. For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy, for I am holy.
  46. This is the law regarding the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that swarms on the earth.
  47. To distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten.