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.

You are the children of the Lord your God. Don't mutilate yourselves or shave your forehead like pagans do when they mourn the dead,

2 For thou art an holy people to the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a special people to himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

because you are a holy people who belong to the Lord your God. The Lord chose you as his special people out of all the nations on earth.

3 Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.

You must not eat anything repulsive.

4 These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

These are the animals that you are allowed to eat: cattle, sheep, goats,

5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.

deer, gazelles, wild goats, antelopes, and mountain sheep.

6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.

You can eat any animal that both has a divided hoof and also chews the cud.

7 Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean to you.

But you are not allowed to eat those that either chew the cud or have a divided hoof. This includes: camels, rabbits, and rock hyraxes. Even though they chew the cud, they don't have a divided hoof. You must treat them as unclean.

8 And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, is unclean to you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.

The same applies to the pig. Even though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. So you must treat it as unclean. You must not eat its meat or touch its dead body.

9 These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:

When it comes to creatures that live in the water, you are allowed to eat anything that has fins and scales.

10 And whatever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean to you.

But you must not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. You must treat them as unclean.

11 Of all clean birds ye shall eat.

You are allowed to eat any clean bird.

12 But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

But you must not eat the following: eagle, griffon vulture, bearded vulture,

13 And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,

buzzard, kites, any kind of falcon,

14 And every raven after his kind,

any member of the crow family,

15 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,

tawny owl, long-eared owl, gulls, any kind of hawk,

16 The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,

little owl, eagle owl, barn owl,

17 And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,

desert owl, Egyptian vulture, fish owl,

18 And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

storks, any kind of heron, hoopoe, or bats.

19 And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean to you: they shall not be eaten.

All insects that fly are unclean to you; you must not eat them.

20 But of all clean fowls ye may eat.

But you are allowed to eat any clean animal that has wings.

21 Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it to the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it to an alien: for thou art an holy people to the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother’s milk.

You must not eat any animal that dies. You can give it to a foreigner in your town, and they can eat it, or you can sell it to a foreigner. You, however, are a holy people who belong to the Lord your God. Don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.

Make sure you pay a tithe of every crop grown each year in your fields.

23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy grain, of thy wine, and of thy oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose to live with you, so that you will learn to always respect the Lord your God.

24 And if the way is too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place is too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

However, if it's too far to carry all the tithe that the Lord your God has blessed you with, because the place where the Lord your God will choose to live with you is too distant,

25 Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thy hand, and shalt go to the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:

then you can exchange it for money, take the money with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose.

26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thy household,

Then you can spend the money on anything you like—cattle, sheep, wine, alcoholic drink, or anything else you want. Then you can have a feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and celebrate with your family.

27 And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.

Don't forget to take care of the Levites in your town, because they don't have any share in the allotment of land.

28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thy increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:

At the end of every third year, collect a tenth of all your produce for that year and store it in your town.

29 And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee, ) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who 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 thy hand which thou doest.

This way the Levites (who don't have any share in the allotment of land), the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows in your town will be provided with what they need. The Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.