Leviticus 11The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 2Say to the Israelites: These are the creatures that you are allowed to eat from the land animals: 3You can eat any animal that has divided hoofs, completely split, and that rechews food. 4But of animals that rechew food and have divided hoofs you must not eat the following: the camel--though it rechews food, it does not have divided hoofs, so it is unclean for you; 5the rock badger--though it rechews food, it does not have divided hoofs, so it is unclean for you; 6the hare--though it rechews food, it does not have divided hoofs, so it is unclean for you; 7the pig--though it has completely divided hoofs, it does not rechew food, so it is unclean for you. 8You must not eat the flesh of these animals or touch their dead bodies; they are unclean for you.
9You are allowed to eat the following from all water animals: You may eat anything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in sea or stream. 10But anything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales--whether it be any of the swarming creatures in the water or any of the other living creatures in the water--is detestable to you 11and must remain so. You must not eat their flesh, and you must detest their dead bodies. 12Anything in the water that does not have fins or scales is detestable to you.
13Of the birds, the following are the ones you must detest--they must not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the black vulture, the bearded vulture, 14the kite, any kind of falcon, 15any kind of raven, 16the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the long-eared owl, any kind of hawk, 17the tawny owl, the fisher owl, the screech owl, 18the white owl, the scops owl, the osprey, 19the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.u
20Any flying insect that walks on four feet is detestable to you, 21but you can eat four-footed flying insects that have jointed legs above their feet with which they hop on the ground. 22Of these you can eat the following: any kind of migrating locust, any kind of bald locust, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper. 23But every other flying insect that has four feet is detestable to you.
Unclean animals
24You make yourself unclean by the following animals--whoever touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening, 25and anyone who carries any part of their dead bodies must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening: 26All animals that have divided hoofs, but they are not completely split, and that do not rechew food are unclean for you--whoever touches them will be unclean. 27Of all the animals that walk on four feet, the ones that walk on their paws are unclean for you--anyone who touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. 28Anyone who carries one of their dead bodies must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening; these animals are unclean for you.
29The following are unclean for you among the small creatures that move about on the ground: the rat, the mouse, any kind of large lizard, 30the gecko, the spotted lizard, the lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.v 31Of all small moving creatures, these are unclean for you--anyone who touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. 32Moreover, anything on which one of these creatures falls when it is dead will be unclean, whether it is wood, cloth, skin, or funeral clothing--any such item that can be used to do work. It must be put into water and will be unclean until evening. Then it will be clean again. 33If any of these creatures fall into a pottery jar, everything inside it will be unclean; you must smash the pot. 34If water from such a jar gets on any edible food, it will be unclean; any drinkable beverage in such a jar will be unclean. 35Anything on which a part of these animals' dead bodies might fall will be unclean. If it is an oven or stove, it must be destroyed; they are unclean for you and must remain that way. 36Now, a spring or cistern that collects water is clean, but anyone who touches one of these animals' dead bodies in it will be unclean.w 37If any part of these animals' dead bodies falls on seed that is to be planted, the seed is still clean. 38But if water is poured on some seed and part of their dead bodies falls on it, it is unclean for you.
39If one of the animals that you are allowed to eat dies naturally, anyone who touches its dead body will be unclean until evening. 40Anyone who eats from the dead body must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening. Anyone who carries such a dead body must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening.
41Every creature that swarms on the earth is detestable; it must not be eaten. 42Among all such creatures that swarm on the earth, you must not eat anything that moves on its belly or anything that walks on four or more feet because they are detestable. 43Do not make yourselves detestable by means of any swarming creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean with them or be made unclean by them. 44I am the LORD your God. You must keep yourselves holy and be holy, because I am holy. You must not make yourselves unclean by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. 45I am the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.
Conclusion concerning animals and diet
46This concludes the Instruction concerning animals, birds, all creatures that live in water, and all the creatures that swarm on the earth, 47in order to distinguish between the unclean and the clean and between creatures that can be eaten and those that cannot.
Purification after childbirth
Leviticus 12The LORD said to Moses: 2Say to the Israelites: If a woman conceives a child and gives birth to a son, she will be unclean for seven days--just as she is during her menstrual period. 3On the eighth day, the flesh of the boy's foreskin must be circumcised. 4For thirty-three days the mother will be in a state of blood purification. She must not touch anything holy or enter the sacred area until her time of purification is completed. 5But if the woman gives birth to a daughter, she will be unclean for two weeks--just as she is during her menstrual period--and will be in a state of blood purificationx for sixty-six days.
6When the time of purification is complete, whether for a son or a daughter, the mother must bring a one-year-old lamb as an entirely burned offering and a pigeon or turtledove as a purification offering to the priest at the meeting tent's entrance. 7The priest will present it before the LORD and make reconciliation for her. She will then be cleansed from her blood flow. This is the Instruction for any woman who has a child, male or female. 8But if the mother cannot afford a sheep, she can bring two turtledoves or two pigeons--one for the entirely burned offering and the other for the purification offering. The priest will then make reconciliation for her, and she will be clean.
Diagnosis of skin disease
Leviticus 13The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2When a person has a swelling, a scab, or a shiny spot on their skin, and it becomes an infection of skin diseasey on their skin, they will be brought to the priests, either to Aaron or one of his sons. 3The priest will examine the infection on the skin. If hair in the infected area has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin, then it is an infection of skin disease. Once the priest sees this, he will declare the person unclean. 4But if the shiny spot on the skin is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin and the hair has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the infected person for seven days. 5On the seventh day the priest will again examine the infection. If he sees that it has remained the same--the infection has not spread on the skin--the priest will quarantine the person for seven more days. 6On the seventh day the priest will examine it again. If the infection has faded and has not spread over the skin, the priest will declare the person clean; it is just a rash. The person must wash their clothes, then they will be clean again. 7But if the rash continues to spread over the skin after they appeared before the priest for purification, they must again