1 You are the children of the Lord your God. Don't cut yourselves to honor the dead. Don't shave the front of your heads to honor them.
2 You are a holy nation. The Lord your God has set you apart for himself. He has chosen you to be his special treasure. He chose you out of all of the nations on the face of the earth.
3 Don't eat anything the Lord hates.
4 Here are the only animals you can eat. You can eat oxen, sheep, goats,
5 deer, gazelles, roe deer, wild goats, ibexes, antelope and mountain sheep.
6 You can eat any animal that has hoofs that are separated completely in two. But it must also chew the cud.
7 Some animals only chew the cud. Others only have hoofs that are completely separated in two. The camel, rabbit and rock badger chew the cud, but they don't have hoofs that are completely separated. So you can't eat them. They are not "clean" for you.
8 Pigs aren't "clean" for you either. They have hoofs that are completely separated, but they don't chew the cud. So don't eat their meat. And don't touch their dead bodies.
9 Many creatures live in water. You can eat all of the ones that have fins and scales.
10 But don't eat anything that doesn't have fins and scales. It isn't "clean" for you.
11 You can eat any "clean" bird.
12 But there are many birds you can't eat. They include eagles, vultures, and black vultures.
13 They include red kites, black kites and all kinds of falcons.
14 They include all kinds of ravens.
15 They include horned owls, screech owls, gulls and all kinds of hawks.
16 They include little owls, great owls, white owls
17 and desert owls. They include ospreys and cormorants.
18 They include storks and all kinds of herons. They also include hoopoes and bats.
19 All insects that fly together in groups are "unclean" for you. So don't eat them.
20 But you can eat any creature that has wings and is "clean."
21 If you find something that's already dead, don't eat it. You can give it to an outsider who is living in any of your towns. He can eat it. Or you can sell it to someone who is from another country. But you are a holy nation. The Lord your God has set you apart for himself. Don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
22 Be sure to set apart a tenth of everything your fields produce each year.
23 Here are the things you should eat in the sight of the Lord your God. You should eat a tenth part of your grain, olive oil and fresh wine. You should also eat the male animals among your livestock that were born first to their mothers. Eat all of those things at the special place the Lord your God will choose. He will put his Name there. You will learn to have respect for him always.
24 But suppose the place the Lord will choose for his Name is too far away from you. And suppose your God has blessed you. And your tenth part is too heavy for you to carry.
25 Then sell it for silver. Take the silver with you. Go to the place the Lord your God will choose.
26 Use the silver to buy anything you like. It can be cattle or sheep. It can be any kind of wine. In fact, it can be anything else you wish. Then you and your family can eat there in the sight of the Lord your God. You can be filled with joy.
27 Don't forget to take care of the Levites who will live in your towns. They won't receive any part of the land as their share.
28 At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of everything you produce that year. Store it in your towns.