Leviticus 11

All 47 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and said to them,
2. 2"Tell the people of Israel: Of all the animals on the earth, these are the ones you may eat.
3. 3You may eat any animal that has hooves completely split in two and that brings its food back up from its stomach to chew it again.
4. 4However, you must not eat certain animals that chew the cud or have divided hooves. For example, the camel chews the cud but does not have divided hooves; it is unclean to you.
5. 5The rock badger brings its food back up to chew it again but does not have hooves that are completely split in two. It is unclean to you.
6. 6The hare brings its food back up to chew it again but does not have hooves that are completely split in two. It is unclean to you.
7. 7The pig has hooves that are completely split in two, but it does not bring its food back up from its stomach to chew it again. It is unclean to you.
8. 8You must not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their dead bodies. They are unclean to you.
9. 9Of everything that lives in the water — whether in the seas or in the rivers — you may eat anything that has both fins and scales.
10. 10But anything in the seas or rivers that does not have fins and scales — every creature that swarms or lives in the water — you must treat as disgusting and forbidden.
11. 11They will be an abomination to you. You must not eat their flesh, but you must regard their carcasses as an abomination.
12. 12Whatever has neither fins nor scales in the waters will be an abomination to you.
13. 13Among the birds, these are the ones you must treat as forbidden and never eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture,
14. 14the red kite, and any kind of black kite,
15. 15any kind of raven,
16. 16the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, and any kind of hawk,
17. 17the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,
18. 18the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,
19. 19the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20. 20All flying insects that walk on all fours are forbidden to you.
21. 21There is one exception: you may eat flying insects that walk on all fours if they have jointed legs designed for hopping on the ground.
22. 22Specifically, you may eat the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the beetle of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind.
23. 23But every other winged insect that walks on all fours is forbidden to you.
24. 24These creatures will make you unclean. Anyone who touches their dead body will be unclean until evening.
25. 25Anyone who picks up and carries any part of their dead body must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening.
26. 26Every animal that has a split hoof but not one completely divided in two, or that does not bring its food back up from its stomach to chew it again, is unclean to you. Anyone who touches one of these animals becomes unclean.
27. 27Among all the four-legged animals, any that walk on paws are unclean to you. Anyone who touches their dead body will be unclean until evening.
28. 28Anyone who picks up and carries their dead body must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening. These animals are unclean to you.
29. 29Among the small creatures that move along the ground, these are unclean to you: the weasel, the rat, and any kind of large lizard,
30. 30the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.
31. 31These are the creatures among all the small ground-dwelling animals that are unclean to you. Anyone who touches one of them after it has died will be unclean until evening.
32. 32When one of these creatures dies and falls on something, that object becomes unclean — whether it's made of wood, cloth, leather, or sackcloth, or any tool used for work. It must be soaked in water and will remain unclean until evening. After that, it will be clean again.
33. 33If one of these creatures falls into a clay pot, everything inside the pot becomes unclean, and you must smash the pot.
34. 34Any food that has been soaked in water from such a pot becomes unclean. Any drink in such a container becomes unclean.
35. 35Anything that a piece of their dead body falls on becomes unclean. If it's an oven or a cooking stove, it must be smashed to pieces. It is unclean and must remain unclean to you.
36. 36However, a natural spring or a cistern that collects water remains clean, but anything that touches their carcass becomes unclean.
37. 37If part of a dead body falls on dry seeds that are meant for planting, the seeds remain clean.
38. 38But if water has been put on the seeds and then part of a dead body falls on them, the seeds become unclean to you.
39. 39If any animal that you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening.
40. 40Anyone who eats meat from its dead body must wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening. Anyone who picks up and carries the dead body must also wash their clothes and will be unclean until evening.
41. 41Every creature that crawls along the ground is forbidden. It must not be eaten.
42. 42Whether it slithers on its belly, walks on all fours, or has many legs — no creature that crawls on the ground may be eaten. They are all forbidden.
43. 43Do not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that crawls, and do not make yourselves unclean with them, so that you become defiled by them.
44. 44I am the LORD your God. Set yourselves apart and be holy, because I am holy. Do not defile yourselves with any creature that crawls on the ground.
45. 45I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.
46. 46These are the instructions regarding animals, birds, every living creature that moves through the water, and every creature that crawls on the ground.
47. 47Their purpose is to help you tell the difference between what is unclean and what is clean — between creatures you may eat and creatures you may not."