English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,
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God spoke to Moses and Aaron:
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.
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"Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them: Of all the animals on Earth, these are the animals that you may eat:
3 Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.
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"You may eat any animal that has a split hoof, divided in two, and that chews the cud,
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.
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but not an animal that only chews the cud or only has a split hoof. For instance, the camel chews the cud but doesn't have a split hoof, so it's unclean.
5 And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.
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The rock badger chews the cud but doesn't have a split hoof and so it's unclean.
6 And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.
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The rabbit chews the cud but doesn't have a split hoof so is unclean.
7 And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.
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The pig has a split hoof, divided in two, but doesn't chew the cud and so is unclean.
8 You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.
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You may not eat their meat nor 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.
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"Among the creatures that live in the water of the seas and streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales.
10 But anything in the seas or the rivers that has not fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you.
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But anything that doesn't have fins and scales, whether in seas or streams, whether small creatures in the shallows or huge creatures in the deeps, you are to detest.
11 You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses.
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Yes, detest them. Don't eat their meat; detest their carcasses.
12 Everything in the waters that has not fins and scales is detestable to you.
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Anything living in the water that doesn't have fins and scales is detestable to you.
13 "And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
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"These are the birds you are to detest. Don't eat them. They are detestable: eagle, vulture, osprey,
14 the kite, the falcon of any kind,
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kite, all falcons,
15 every raven of any kind,
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all ravens,
16 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind,
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ostrich, nighthawk, sea gull, all hawks,
17 the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl,
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owl, cormorant, ibis,
18 the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture,
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water hen, pelican, Egyptian vulture,
19 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
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stork, all herons, hoopoe, bat.
20 "All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you.
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"All flying insects that walk 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.
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But you can eat some of these, namely, those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground:
22 Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind.
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all locusts, katydids, crickets, and grasshoppers.
23 But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.
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But all the other flying insects that have four legs you are to detest.
24 "And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening,
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"You will make yourselves ritually unclean until evening if you touch their carcasses.
25 and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
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If you pick up one of their carcasses you must wash your clothes and you'll be unclean until 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.
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"Every animal that has a split hoof that's not completely divided, or that doesn't chew the cud is unclean for you; if you touch the carcass of any of them you become 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,
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"Every four-footed animal that goes on its paws is unclean for you; if you touch its carcass you are unclean until evening.
28 and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
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If you pick up its carcass you must wash your clothes and are unclean until evening. They are unclean for 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,
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"Among the creatures that crawl on the ground, the following are unclean for you: weasel, rat, all lizards,
30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.
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gecko, monitor lizard, wall lizard, skink, chameleon.
31 These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.
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Among the crawling creatures, these are unclean for you. If you touch them when they are dead, you are ritually unclean until 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 put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean.
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When one of them dies and falls on something, that becomes unclean no matter what it's used for, whether it's made of wood, cloth, hide, or sackcloth. Put it in the water - it's unclean until evening, and then it's 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.
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If one of these dead creatures falls into a clay pot, everything in the pot is unclean and you must break the pot.
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.
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Any food that could be eaten but has water on it from such a pot is unclean, and any liquid that could be drunk from it is 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.
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Anything that one of these carcasses falls on is unclean - an oven or cooking pot must be broken up; they're unclean and must be treated as unclean.
36 Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them shall be unclean.
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A spring, though, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but if you touch one of these carcasses you're ritually unclean.
37 And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean,
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If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean.
38 but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
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But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, you must treat it as unclean.
39 "And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening,
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"If an animal that you are permitted to eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass is ritually unclean until evening.
40 and whoever eats 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.
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If you eat some of the carcass you must wash your clothes and you are unclean until evening. If you pick up the carcass you must wash your clothes and are unclean until evening.
41 "Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten.
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"Creatures that crawl on the ground are detestable and not to 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.
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Don't eat creatures that crawl on the ground, whether on their belly or on all fours or on many feet - they are detestable.
43 You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them.
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Don't make yourselves unclean or be defiled by them, because I am your God.
44 For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.
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"Make yourselves holy for I am holy. Don't make yourselves ritually unclean by any creature 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."
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I am God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Be holy because 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,
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"These are the instructions on animals, birds, fish, and creatures that crawl on the ground.
47 to 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.
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You have to distinguish between the ritually unclean and the clean, between living creatures that can be eaten and those that cannot be eaten."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
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.