A Holy People
Deuteronomy 14, verse 1. “You are the children of the Lord your God; you shall not engage in purificatory rites, nor shave your head between your eyes for the dead. Deuteronomy 14, verse 2. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord chose you to be a people for Himself, a special people above all the nations on the face of the earth.
Clean and Unclean Meat
Deuteronomy 14, verse 3. “You shall not eat any abomination. Deuteronomy 14, verse 4. These are the cattle you may eat: the young bull of the oxen, the male lamb of the sheep, and the young male of the goats; Deuteronomy 14, verse 5. and you may also eat the deer, the gazelle, the antelope, the wild goat, the mountain goat, the gazelle, and the mountain sheep. Deuteronomy 14, verse 6. You may also eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud among the animals. Deuteronomy 14, verse 7. Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rabbit; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you. Deuteronomy 14, verse 8. Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses. Deuteronomy 14, verse 9. “These you may eat of all in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales. Deuteronomy 14, verse 10. But whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. Deuteronomy 14, verse 11. All clean birds you may eat. Deuteronomy 14, verse 12. But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, Deuteronomy 14, verse 13. the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds; Deuteronomy 14, verse 14. every raven after its kind; Deuteronomy 14, verse 15. the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the seagull, and the hawk after their kinds; Deuteronomy 14, verse 16. the heron, the swan, and the ibis; Deuteronomy 14, verse 17. the cormorant, the hawk, the hoopoe, and the owl; Deuteronomy 14, verse 18. the pelican, the plover after their kind, and the purple coot and the bat. Deuteronomy 14, verse 19. Also every creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. Deuteronomy 14, verse 20. You may eat all clean birds. Deuteronomy 14, verse 21. You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien in your cities that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. You shall not boil a lamb in its mother's milk.
Tithing
Deuteronomy 14, verse 22. “You shall tithe all the increase of your grain the field produces year by year. Deuteronomy 14, verse 23. You shall eat before the Lord your God in the place He chooses to have His name called upon there; you will bring in the tithe of your grain, wine, and olive oil, of the firstborn of your oxen and sheep, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God all your days. Deuteronomy 14, verse 24. But if the journey is too long for you, so you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, Deuteronomy 14, verse 25. then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hands, and go to the place the Lord your God chooses. Deuteronomy 14, verse 26. Then you shall spend that money for whatever your soul desires; for oxen or sheep, for wine or strong drink, for whatever your soul desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household, Deuteronomy 14, verse 27. and the Levite who is within your cities, for he has no part or inheritance with you. Deuteronomy 14, verse 28. “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce. Deuteronomy 14, verse 29. Then the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the resident alien and the fatherless and the widow who are within your cities may come and eat and be satisfied, so the Lord your God may bless you in all the works you do.