Leviticus 11
Clean and unclean animals
The Existing One told Moses and Aaron,
“Tell the Israelites that these are the animals you may eat:
You may eat any animal with a split hoof and cloven foot that chews cud. You aren’t allowed to eat camels, rock badgers, or hares because even though they chew cud, they don’t have split hooves, so they are unclean to you. You aren’t allowed to eat pigs because even though they have split hooves and cloven feet, they do not chew cud and are unclean to you. You shouldn’t eat any part of them, and you shouldn’t touch their carcasses because they are unclean to you.
You may eat any water animal that has fins and scales (whether they live in rivers or seas). Any water animal that doesn’t have fins and scales is detestable to you. You should view them as disgusting and never eat any part of them and detest their carcasses. Anything in the water without fins and scales is detestable to you.
These are the birds that you should never eat because they are detestable: eagles, bearded vultures, black vultures, kites, falcons (of any kind), ravens (of any kind), ostriches, nighthawks, sea gulls, hawks, little owls, cormorants, short-eared owls, barn owls, tawny owls, carrion vultures, storks, herons (of any kind), hoopoes, and bats.
All winged insects that crawl on the ground are detestable to you except for the ones with jointed knees that hop on the ground. You can eat locusts (of any kind), bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. Any other winged insects that have feet are detestable to you.
These will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will become unclean until the evening, and anyone who carries any part of their carcass needs to wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
Any animal that has split hooves but doesn’t have cloven feet or doesn’t chew cud is unclean to you. Anyone who touches one will be unclean.
Any animal that has paws and walks on all fours is unclean to you. Whoever touches a carcass of one will be unclean until the evening, and anyone who carries one of their carcasses should wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you.
These animals that swarm on the ground are also unclean to you: mole rats, mice, great lizards (of any kind), geckos, monitor lizards, lizards, sand lizards, and chameleons. These are the animals that swarm on the ground that are unclean to you. If anyone touches one of their carcasses will be unclean until the evening. If their carcasses touch anything (like wood, cloth, a sack, or anything else) that item will be unclean. It must be submerged into water and it will be unclean until the evening before it becomes clean again. If any of them falls into any clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and it should be broken. Any food in it that could have been eaten will be unclean. Any liquid that could have been drunk from it will be unclean. If their carcasses touch anything, that thing will be contaminated. It doesn’t matter if its an oven or stove: it should be shattered into pieces. They are unclean and will always be unclean for you. Nevertheless, a spring or cistern holding water will be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them will be unclean. If any part of their carcass falls on any dry grain seed that hasn’t been planted yet, it will still be clean, but if the seed is wet and a carcass falls on it, then it is unclean to you.
If any edible animal dies, whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until the evening, and whoever eats from its carcass should wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. Whoever carries the carcass needs to wash his clothes and will be unclean until the evening.
Anything that swarms on the ground is detestable and shouldn’t be eaten. You shouldn’t eat anything that moves on its belly, walks on all fours, has many feet, or swarms on the ground, for they are all detestable. You shouldn’t make yourselves detestable with anything that swarms or defile yourselves with them, becoming unclean through them, because I am the Existing One your God. So consecrate yourselves and be unlike anyone else, because I am unlike anyone else. Don’t defile yourselves with anything that crawls on the ground. I am the Existing One who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. So now you should be set apart because I am set apart.”
This is the law concerning beast, birds, water animals, and swarming critters that distinguishes between clean and unclean as well as those that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.