Deuteronomy 14 – NIRV & NIV

New International Reader’s Version

Deuteronomy 14:1-29

“Clean” and “Unclean” Food

1You 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 the dead. 2You 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 the nations on the face of the earth.

3Don’t eat anything the Lord hates. 4Here are the only animals you can eat. You can eat oxen, sheep, goats, 5deer, gazelles, roe deer, wild goats, ibexes, antelope and mountain sheep. 6You can eat any animal that has a divided hoof. But it must also chew the cud. 7Some animals only chew the cud. Others only have a divided hoof. The camel, rabbit and rock badger chew the cud, but they don’t have a divided hoof. So you can’t eat them. They are not “clean” for you. 8Pigs aren’t “clean” for you either. They have a divided hoof, but they don’t chew the cud. So don’t eat their meat. And don’t touch their dead bodies.

9Many creatures live in water. You can eat all the ones that have fins and scales. 10But don’t eat anything that doesn’t have fins and scales. It isn’t “clean” for you.

11You can eat any “clean” bird. 12But there are many birds you can’t eat. They include eagles, vultures, and black vultures. 13They include red kites, black kites and all kinds of falcons. 14They include all kinds of ravens. 15They include horned owls, screech owls, gulls and all kinds of hawks. 16They include little owls, great owls, white owls 17and desert owls. They include ospreys and cormorants. 18They include storks and all kinds of herons. They also include hoopoes and bats.

19All flying insects are “unclean” for you. So don’t eat them. 20But you can eat any creature that has wings and is “clean.”

21If you find something that’s already dead, don’t eat it. You can give it to an outsider living in any of your towns. They may eat it. Or you can sell it to someone 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.

Give a Tenth of What You Produce

22Be sure to set apart a tenth of everything your fields produce each year. 23Here 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 these things at the special place the Lord your God will choose. He will put his Name there. You will learn to honor him always. 24But 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. 25Then sell it for silver. Take the silver with you. Go to the place the Lord your God will choose. 26Use 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. 27Don’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.

28At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of everything you produce that year. Store it in your towns. 29Then the Levites can come and eat. That’s because they won’t receive any part of the land as their share. The outsiders and widows who live in your towns can come. So can the children whose fathers have died. Everyone can have plenty to eat. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

New International Version

Deuteronomy 14:1-29

Clean and Unclean Food

1You are the children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, 2for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

3Do not eat any detestable thing. 4These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.14:5 The precise identification of some of the birds and animals in this chapter is uncertain. 6You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. 7However, of those that chew the cud or that have a divided hoof you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the hyrax. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. 8The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

9Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. 10But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.

11You may eat any clean bird. 12But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 13the red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon, 14any kind of raven, 15the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 16the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, 18the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

19All flying insects are unclean to you; do not eat them. 20But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.

21Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to the foreigner residing in any of your towns, and they may eat it, or you may sell it to any other foreigner. But you are a people holy to the Lord your God.

Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Tithes

22Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23Eat the tithe 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 as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. 24But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. 26Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. 27And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.

28At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, 29so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.