New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 “Since you are the people of the LORD your God, never cut yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning for the dead.
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You are children of God, your God, so don't mutilate your bodies or shave your heads in funeral rites for the dead.
2 You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure.
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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.
3 “You must not eat any detestable animals that are ceremonially unclean.
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Don't eat anything abominable.
4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
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These are the animals you may eat: ox, sheep, goat,
5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the addax, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.
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deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, mountain sheep -
6 “You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud,
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any animal that has a cloven hoof and chews the cud.
7 but if the animal doesn’t have both, it may not be eaten. So you may not eat the camel, the hare, or the hyrax. They chew the cud but do not have split hooves, so they are ceremonially unclean for you.
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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.
8 And you may not eat the pig. It has split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses.
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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.
9 “Of all the marine animals, you may eat whatever has both fins and scales.
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This is what you may eat from the water: anything that has fins and scales.
10 You may not, however, eat marine animals that do not have both fins and scales. They are ceremonially unclean for you.
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But if it doesn't have fins or scales, you may not eat it. It's ritually unclean.
11 “You may eat any bird that is ceremonially clean.
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You may eat any ritually clean bird.
12 These are the birds you may not eat: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
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These are the exceptions, so don't eat these: eagle, vulture, black vulture,
13 the kite, the falcon, buzzards of all kinds,
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kite, falcon, the buzzard family,
14 ravens of all kinds,
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the raven family,
15 the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds,
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ostrich, nighthawk, the hawk family,
16 the little owl, the great owl, the barn owl,
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little owl, great owl, white owl,
17 the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture, the cormorant,
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pelican, osprey, cormorant,
18 the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.
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stork, the heron family, hoopoe, bat.
19 “All winged insects that walk along the ground are ceremonially unclean for you and may not be eaten.
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Winged insects are ritually unclean; don't eat them.
20 But you may eat any winged bird or insect that is ceremonially clean.
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But ritually clean winged creatures are permitted.
21 “You must not eat anything that has died a natural death. You may give it to a foreigner living in your town, or you may sell it to a stranger. But do not eat it yourselves, for you are set apart as holy to the LORD your God. “You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
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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.
22 “You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year.
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Make an offering of ten percent, a tithe, of all the produce which grows in your fields year after year.
23 Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the LORD your God.
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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.
24 “Now when the LORD your God blesses you with a good harvest, the place of worship he chooses for his name to be honored might be too far for you to bring the tithe.
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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:
25 If so, you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds, put the money in a pouch, and go to the place the LORD your God has chosen.
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exchange your tithe for money and take the money to the place God, your God, has chosen to be worshiped.
26 When you arrive, you may use the money to buy any kind of food you want—cattle, sheep, goats, wine, or other alcoholic drink. Then feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and celebrate with your household.
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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.
27 And do not neglect the Levites in your town, for they will receive no allotment of land among you.
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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.
28 “At the end of every third year, bring the entire tithe of that year’s harvest and store it in the nearest town.
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At the end of every third year, gather the tithe from all your produce of that year and put it aside in storage.
29 Give it to the Levites, who will receive no allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all your work.
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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.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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.