Clean and Unclean Animals

(Leviticus 11:1–47, Acts 10:9–16)

14 You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead, 2 for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

3 You must not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals that you may eat:[fn]

• The ox, the sheep, the goat,


• 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer,
  
• the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope,


• and the mountain sheep.

6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud.

7 But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following:

• the camel,


• the rabbit,


• or the rock badger.[fn]


• Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you, 8 as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass.

9 Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat anything with fins and scales, 10 but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.

11 You may eat any clean bird, 12 but these you may not eat:

• the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,


• 13 the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite,


• 14 any kind of raven,


• 15 the ostrich,[fn] the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,


• 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,


• 17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,


• 18 the stork, any kind of heron,
  
• the hoopoe, or the bat.

19 All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. 20 But you may eat any clean bird.

21 You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God.

You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.