Clean and Unclean Animals
1 lAnd the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. 3 Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 4 Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 5 And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 6 And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 7 And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.
9 “These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. 10 But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you. 11 You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. 12 Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.
13 “And these you shall detest among the birds;1 they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle,2 the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 14 the kite, the falcon of any kind, 15 every raven of any kind, 16 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl, 18 the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture, 19 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20 “All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you. 21 Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground. 22 Of them you may eat: the mlocust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind. 23 But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.
24 “And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever ntouches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 25 and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26 Every animal that parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. 27 And all that walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 28 and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
29 “And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, the great lizard of any kind, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31 These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. 32 And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or a garment or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose. It must be oput into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean. 33 And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it. 34 Any food in it that could be eaten, on which water comes, shall be unclean. And all drink that could be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean. 35 And everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean. Whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean and shall remain unclean for you. 36 Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them shall be unclean. 37 And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean, 38 but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
39 “And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 40 and whoever peats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
41 “Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten. 42 Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable. 43 You shall not qmake yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them. 44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and rbe holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
46 This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, 47 sto make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.
11 uit is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, vbut what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
15 iThere is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, jbut the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”1
18 And he said to them, k“Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”1 (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
Peter’s Vision
9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour1 to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a jtrance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were kall kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, l“By no means, Lord; for mI have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, n“What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
5 u“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a vtrance I saw a wvision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, x‘By no means, Lord; for ynothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, z‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven.
Do Not Cause Another to Stumble
13 Therefore clet us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a dstumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that enothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean ffor anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are gno longer walking in love. hBy what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For ithe kingdom of God is jnot a matter of eating and drinking kbut of righteousness and lpeace and mjoy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is nacceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us opursue what makes for peace and for mutual pupbuilding.
20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. qEverything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.1 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But rwhoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. sFor whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.2
