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God’s Special People

14 You are the ·children [sons] of the Lord your God. When someone dies, do not ·cut [lacerate; gash] yourselves or ·shave your heads [L set baldness between your eyes; C to show sadness; mourning customs of the pagan Canaanites]. You are holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on earth ·to be his very own [as his special treasure; Ex. 19:5–6].

Do not eat anything ·the Lord hates [L detestable; abominable; cf. Lev. 11]. These are the animals you may eat: oxen, sheep, goats, deer, gazelle, roe deer, wild goats, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that has a split hoof and chews the cud [C considered a normal land animal], but you may not eat camels, rabbits, or rock badgers. These animals chew the cud, but they do not have split hoofs, so they are unclean [C in a ritual sense] for you. Pigs are also unclean for you; they have split hoofs, but they do not chew the cud. Do not eat their meat or touch their dead bodies.

There are many things that live in the water. You may eat anything that has fins and scales [C considered a normal aquatic creature], 10 but do not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. It is unclean [C in a ritual sense] for you.

11 You may eat any clean [C in a ritual sense] bird. 12 But do not eat these birds: eagles, vultures, black vultures, 13 red kites, falcons, any kind of kite, 14 any kind of raven, 15 horned owls, screech owls, sea gulls, any kind of hawk, 16 little owls, great owls, white owls, 17 desert owls, ospreys, cormorants, 18 storks, any kind of heron, the hoopoes, or bats [C the exact identification of many of these birds is disputed, but they all eat prey or dead matter and/or live in desolate places].

19 All insects with wings are unclean [C in a ritual sense] for you; do not eat them. 20 Other things with wings are clean, and you may eat them.

21 Do not eat anything you find that is already dead. You may give it to a ·foreigner living in your town [resident alien living within your gates], and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are holy people, who belong to the Lord your God.

Do not cook a baby goat in its mother’s milk [C probably a pagan ritual; Ex. 23:19].

Giving a Tithe

22 Be sure to ·save [set aside/apart] ·one-tenth [T a tithe] of all ·your crops [L the produce/yield of your seed of the field] each year. 23 Eat it in the presence of the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to ·be worshiped [L cause his name to dwell; C Zion; 12:4–7]. Eat the ·tenth [tithe] of your grain, new wine, and oil, and eat the animals born first to your herds and flocks. Do this so that you will learn to ·respect [fear] the Lord your God ·always [L every day]. 24 But if the place the Lord will choose to ·be worshiped [L set his name there] is too far away and he has blessed you so much you cannot carry a ·tenth [T tithe], 25 exchange your ·one-tenth [T tithe] for silver. Then ·take [L grasp in your hand] the silver with you to the place the Lord your God shall choose. 26 ·Use [Spend; L Give] the silver to buy anything you wish—cattle, sheep, wine, ·beer [T strong drink; C an alcoholic beverage made from grain], or anything you wish. Then you and your ·family [L house] will eat and celebrate there before the Lord your God. 27 Do not ·forget [L abandon; forsake] the Levites in your ·town [L gates], because they have no land of their own among you.

28 At the end of every third year, everyone should bring ·one-tenth [T a tithe] of that year’s crop and store it in your ·towns [L gates]. 29 This is for the Levites so they may eat and be full. (They have no ·land of their own [L allotment or inheritance] among you.) It is also for ·strangers [foreigners; resident aliens], orphans, and widows who live in your ·towns [L gates] so that all of them may eat and be full. Then the Lord your God will bless you and all the work ·you do [L of your hands that you do].

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