A Holy People, Set Apart by the Father
Because you are children of your Father, do not gash yourselves in grief like the nations. Clean and unclean creatures are listed, then the tithe — eaten in joy before him, and every third year stored in your towns so the Levite, foreigner, orphan and widow eat their fill.
14 1You are children of your Father—don't cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald for the dead. a a v1 Israel is addressed directly as our Father's own children — the family bond on which the whole law rests. 2For you are a holy people, belonging to your Father—your Father chose you to be his treasured possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
3You shall not eat anything detestable. 4These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, 5deer, gazelle, roe deer, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. 6You may eat any animal that has a completely divided hoof and that chews the cud. 7But among those that chew the cud or have a split hoof, you may not eat the camel, the hare, or the rock badger—they chew the cud but their hoof isn't split; they are unclean for you. 8The pig has a split hoof but doesn't chew the cud, so it is unclean for you. Don't eat their meat or touch their carcasses. 9Of all that live in the water, you may eat anything that has fins and scales. 10But anything without fins and scales you must not eat—it is unclean for you. 11You may eat any clean bird. 12But these are the ones you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 13the kite, the falcon, the buzzard of any kind, 14every raven of any kind, 15the ostrich, the nighthawk, the seagull, the hawk of any kind, 16the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17the desert owl, the scavenger bird, the cormorant, 18the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. 19All winged insects are unclean for you; do not eat them. 20But any clean winged creature you may eat.
21Do not eat anything that died on its own. You may give it to the stranger in your towns to eat, or sell it to a foreigner—you are a holy people to your Father. Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
Bringing Your Tithe Before the Father
22Bring the tenth of all your field's yearly produce, without fail. 23Eat before your Father, in the place he chooses to make his name live there: the tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock—so you learn to always revere your Father. 24But if the journey is too long for you to carry the tenth—since the place your Father chooses for his name is too far from you—once your Father has blessed you, 25turn it into money, carry it with you, and go to the place your Father will choose. 26Spend the money on whatever you crave—cattle, sheep, wine, or strong drink, whatever you desire—eat there before your Father, rejoice, you and your household. 27Do not abandon the Levite in your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. 28At the end of every three years, bring out the full tenth of that year's produce and store it in your towns. 29The Levite—since he has no portion or inheritance with you—and the foreigner, orphan, and widow in your towns are to come, eat, and be satisfied, so that your Father may bless you in all your hands' work.
