You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,
and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”
Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the grain offering that is left of the Lord's food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.
You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons' due, from the Lord's food offerings, for so I am commanded.
But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons' due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel.
The thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be yours and your sons' with you as a due forever, as the Lord has commanded.”
Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying,
“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord?
Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.”
And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?”
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,
“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.
Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.
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.
And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.
And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.
And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.
“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.
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.
Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.
“And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
the kite, the falcon of any kind,
the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind,
the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl,
the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture,
the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
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.
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.
“And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening,
and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
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.
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,
and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
“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,
the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.
These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.
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.
but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
“And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening,
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.
“Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten.
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.
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.
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.”
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,
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.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.
And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
ESV® Permanent Text Edition (2016). The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers.
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