Clean and Unclean Animals

(Leviticus 11:1–47, Acts 10:9–16)

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 
• vvv 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.

22