The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 You are children of God, your God, so don't mutilate your bodies or shave your heads in funeral rites for the dead.
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Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
2 You only are a people holy to God, your God; God chose you out of all the people on Earth as his cherished personal treasure.
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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 the nations that are upon the earth.
3 Don't eat anything abominable.
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Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.
4 These are the animals you may eat: ox, sheep, goat,
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These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,
5 deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, mountain sheep -
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The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.
6 any animal that has a cloven hoof and chews the cud.
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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.
7 But you may not eat camels, rabbits, and rock badgers because they chew the cud but they don't have a cloven hoof - that makes them ritually unclean.
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Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.
8 And pigs: Don't eat pigs - they have a cloven hoof but don't chew the cud, which makes them ritually unclean. Don't even touch a pig's carcass.
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And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.
9 This is what you may eat from the water: anything that has fins and scales.
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These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
10 But if it doesn't have fins or scales, you may not eat it. It's ritually unclean.
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And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
11 You may eat any ritually clean bird.
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Of all clean birds ye shall eat.
12 These are the exceptions, so don't eat these: eagle, vulture, black vulture,
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But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
13 kite, falcon, the buzzard family,
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And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,
14 the raven family,
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And every raven after his kind,
15 ostrich, nighthawk, the hawk family,
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And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,
16 little owl, great owl, white owl,
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The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,
17 pelican, osprey, cormorant,
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And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,
18 stork, the heron family, hoopoe, bat.
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And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.
19 Winged insects are ritually unclean; don't eat them.
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And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten.
20 But ritually clean winged creatures are permitted.
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But of all clean fowls ye may eat.
21 Because you are a people holy to God, your God, don't eat anything that you find dead. You can, though, give it to a foreigner in your neighborhood for a meal or sell it to a foreigner. Don't boil a kid in its mother's milk.
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Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
22 Make an offering of ten percent, a tithe, of all the produce which grows in your fields year after year.
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Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
23 Bring this into the Presence of God, your God, at the place he designates for worship and there eat the tithe from your grain, wine, and oil and the firstborn from your herds and flocks. In this way you will learn to live in deep reverence before God, your God, as long as you live.
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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 corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
24 But if the place God, your God, designates for worship is too far away and you can't carry your tithe that far, God, your God, will still bless you:
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And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
25 exchange your tithe for money and take the money to the place God, your God, has chosen to be worshiped.
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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:
26 Use the money to buy anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, or beer - anything that looks good to you. You and your family can then feast in the Presence of God, your God, and have a good time.
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And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
27 Meanwhile, don't forget to take good care of the Levites who live in your towns; they won't get any property or inheritance of their own as you will.
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And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.
28 At the end of every third year, gather the tithe from all your produce of that year and put it aside in storage.
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At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
29 Keep it in reserve for the Levite who won't get any property or inheritance as you will, and for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who live in your neighborhood. That way they'll have plenty to eat and God, your God, will bless you in all your work.
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And the Levite, (because he hath no part 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.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.