1 You are the children of the Lord your God. Don't mutilate yourselves or shave your forehead like pagans do* when they mourn the dead, 2 because you are a holy people who belong to the Lord your God. The Lord chose you as his special people out of all the nations on earth.

3 You must not eat anything repulsive. 4 These are the animals that you are allowed to eat:† cattle, sheep, goats, 5 deer, gazelles, wild goats, antelopes, and mountain sheep. 6 You can eat any animal that both has a divided hoof and also chews the cud. 7 But you are not allowed to eat those that either chew the cud or have a divided hoof. This includes: camels, rabbits, and rock hyraxes. Even though they chew the cud, they don't have a divided hoof. You must treat them as unclean. 8 The same applies to the pig. Even though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. So you must treat it as unclean. You must not eat its meat or touch its dead body.

9 When it comes to creatures that live in the water, you are allowed to eat anything that has fins and scales. 10 But you must not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. You must treat them as unclean. 11 You are allowed to eat any clean bird. 12 But you must not eat the following: eagle, griffon vulture, bearded vulture, 13 buzzard, kites, any kind of falcon, 14 any member of the crow family, 15 tawny owl, long-eared owl, gulls, any kind of hawk, 16 little owl, eagle owl, barn owl, 17 desert owl, Egyptian vulture, fish owl, 18 storks, any kind of heron, hoopoe, or bats. 19 All insects that fly are unclean to you; you must not eat them. 20 But you are allowed to eat any clean animal that has wings. 21 You must not eat any animal that dies. You can give it to a foreigner in your town, and they can eat it, or you can sell it to a foreigner. You, however, are a holy people who belong to the Lord your God. Don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

22 Make sure you pay a tithe of every crop grown each year in your fields. 23 You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose to live with you, so that you will learn to always respect the Lord your God. 24 However, if it's too far to carry all the tithe that the Lord your God has blessed you with, because the place where the Lord your God will choose to live with you is too distant, 25 then you can exchange it for money, take the money with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. 26 Then you can spend the money on anything you like—cattle, sheep, wine, alcoholic drink, or anything else you want. Then you can have a feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and celebrate with your family.

27 Don't forget to take care of the Levites in your town, because they don't have any share in the allotment of land. 28 At the end of every third year, collect a tenth of all your produce for that year and store it in your town. 29 This way the Levites (who don't have any share in the allotment of land), the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows in your town will be provided with what they need. The Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.