Deuteronomy 14:16-26

16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,
17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,
18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.
19 All flying insects are unclean to you; do not eat them.
20 But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.
21 Do 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

22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.
23 Eat 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.
24 But 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),
25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose.
26 Use 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.

Deuteronomy 14:16-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 14

In this chapter some cautions are given against the use of some rites and ceremonies in mourning for the dead, with the reason thereof, De 14:1,2 and instructions about what are lawful to be eaten, and what not, whether of beasts, fishes, or fowl, De 14:3-21, and concerning eating one sort of tithes both at the place God should choose, and within their own gates, De 14:22-29.

Cross References 14

  • 1. Psalms 102:6; Isaiah 13:21; Isaiah 14:23; Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14
  • 2. S Leviticus 20:25
  • 3. S Leviticus 11:39; Leviticus 17:15; Leviticus 22:8
  • 4. ver 2
  • 5. S Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26
  • 6. S Genesis 14:20; S Leviticus 27:30; S Numbers 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:6,17; Nehemiah 10:37
  • 7. S Deuteronomy 12:17,18
  • 8. Psalms 4:7
  • 9. S Deuteronomy 12:5; 1 Kings 3:2
  • 10. S Deuteronomy 4:10
  • 11. Psalms 22:23; Psalms 33:8; Malachi 2:5
  • 12. Matthew 21:12; John 2:14
  • 13. S Leviticus 10:9; Ecclesiastes 10:16-17
  • 14. S Leviticus 23:40; S Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 12:7-8
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