Deuteronomy 14
1 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
“We are people who belong to Yahweh our God. So, when people die, do not show that you are grieving by gashing/cutting yourselves or by shaving the hair on your foreheads [like the other people-groups do].
2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
We belong to Yahweh alone. Yahweh chose us from all the other people-groups on the earth to be his special people.
3 Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.
“Do not eat anything that [Yahweh] detests.
4 These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,
The animals [whose meat] you are permitted to eat are cattle, sheep, goats,
5 the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the antelope, and the chamois.
deer, gazelles, wild goats, antelopes, and mountain sheep.
6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and hath the hoof cloven in two, [and] cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that ye shall eat.
Those are animals that have split hoofs and that also (chew their cuds/regurgitate their food [from their stomachs] to chew it again).
7 Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the coney, because they chew the cud but part not the hoof, they are unclean unto you:
But there are other animals that chew their cuds that you must not eat. Those are camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. They chew their cuds, but their hooves are not split. So they are not acceptable for you to eat.
8 and the swine, because he parteth the hoof but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you: of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcases ye shall not touch.
Do not eat pigs. They are unacceptable for you to eat; their hooves are split, but they do not chew cud. Do not eat the meat of those animals; do not even touch their dead bodies.
9 These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales shall ye eat:
You are permitted to eat any fish that has scales and fins.
10 and whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat; it is unclean unto you.
But anything else [that lives in the water] that does not have scales and fins, you must not eat, because [if you eat them], you will become unacceptable [to Yahweh].
11 Of all clean birds ye may eat.
“You are permitted to eat the flesh of any bird that is acceptable [to Yahweh].
12 But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the gier eagle, and the ospray;
But eagles, vultures, black vultures,
13 and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind;
buzzards, all kinds of kites,
14 and every raven after its kind;
all kinds of crows,
15 and the ostrich, and the night hawk, and the seamew, and the hawk after its kind;
ostriches, seagulls,
16 the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl;
owls, hawks, falcons,
17 and the pelican, and the vulture, and the cormorant;
pelicans, vultures that eat dead animals, cormorants,
18 and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
storks, herons, hoopoes, and bats, you must not eat.
19 And all winged creeping things are unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten.
“All insects with wings [and which walk on the ground] are unacceptable [to Yahweh]; do not eat them.
20 Of all clean fowls ye may eat.
But other insects with wings [and which hop along the ground] are acceptable to eat.
21 Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou mayest give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.
“Do not eat any animal that has died naturally, [because its blood has not been drained out]. You may allow foreigners who live among you to eat those things or you may sell them to other foreigners. But you belong to Yahweh our God; [and those who belong to him are not permitted to eat the meat of animals whose blood has not been drained out]. “You must not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother’s milk.”
22 Thou shalt surely tithe all the increase of thy seed, that which cometh forth of the field year by year.
“Once each year you must set apart (a tithe/10 percent) of all the crops that are produced/harvested in your fields.
23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
Take those things to the place that Yahweh our God will choose [for you to worship him]. There eat the tithes of your grain, your wine, your [olive] oil, and the meat of the firstborn male animals of your cattle and your sheep. Do this in order that you may learn to always revere Yahweh, [the one who has blessed you by giving you these things].
24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God shall bless thee:
If the place that Yahweh has chosen [for you to worship him] is very far from your home, with the result that you are not able to take there the tithes [of your crops] with which Yahweh has blessed you, do this:
25 then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:
Sell [IDM] the tithes of your crops, wrap the money carefully [in a cloth], and take it with you to the place of worship that Yahweh has chosen.
26 and thou shalt bestow the money for whatsoever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul asketh of thee: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine household:
There, [with that money], you may buy whatever you want to—beef or lamb or wine or fermented drinks. And there, in the presence of Yahweh, you and your families should eat [and drink] those things and be happy.
27 and the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee.
But be sure to not neglect/forget [to help] the descendants of Levi who live in your towns, because they will not own any land.
28 At the end of every three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase in the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
“At the end of every three years, bring a tithe of all your crops that have been produced/harvested in that year and store it in your towns.
29 and the Levite, because he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.
That food is for the descendants of Levi, because they do not have their own land, and for foreigners [who live among you], and for orphans and widows who live in your towns. They are permitted to come [to where the food is stored] and take what they need. Do that in order that Yahweh our God will bless you in everything that you do.”
