Clean and Unclean Animals
Moses forbids cutting and shaving for the dead because Israel is the LORD's holy and chosen possession among the nations.
Y1ou are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead, 2for 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.
The food laws begin with a ban on detestable things, then name permitted land animals and the marks that distinguish them from animals Israel must refuse.
3You must not eat any detestable thing. 4These are the animals that you may eat: 5the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, 6You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. 7But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: 8Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you, 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.
Water creatures are sorted by a simple rule: those with fins and scales may be eaten, and those without them are unclean.
9Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat anything with fins and scales, 10but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.
The chapter next turns to birds and flying creatures, allowing clean birds while listing kinds Israel must not eat and excluding flying insects as unclean.
11You may eat any clean bird, 12but these you may not eat: 13the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite, 14any kind of raven, 15the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 16the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, 18the stork, any kind of heron, 19All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. 20But you may eat any clean bird.
Israel must not eat an animal found dead, though it may be given or sold to foreigners, because Israel is a holy people belonging to the LORD.
21You 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.