Study Desk

"You are ^(C1)sons of the LORD your God; ^(C2)you shall not cut yourselves nor ^(F1)shave a bald spot ^(F2)above your forehead for the dead.

"For you are ^(C1)a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a ^(C2)people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

"^(C1)You shall not eat any detestable thing.

"^(C1)These are the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,

^(F1)the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

"And any animal that has a divided hoof and has its hoofs split in two, and ^(F1)chews the cud, among the animals, ^(F2)that animal you may eat.

"However, you are not to eat these among the ones that ^(F1)chew the cud, or among those that have the hoof divided in ^(F2)two: the camel, the ^(F3)rabbit, and the rock hyrax, for though they ^(F1)chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are unclean to you.

"And the pig, because it has a divided hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, nor touch their carcasses.

"These you may eat of everything that is in the water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat,

but anything that does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

"You may eat any clean bird.

"But ^(C1)these are the ones that you shall not eat: the ^(F1)eagle and the vulture and the ^(F2)buzzard,

and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds,

and every raven in its kind,

and the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in their kinds,

the little owl, the ^(F1)great owl, the white owl,

the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant,

the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat.

"And all the swarming insects with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten.

"You may eat any clean bird.

"^(C1)You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the stranger who is in your ^(F1)town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a stranger; for you are ^(C2)a holy people to the LORD your God. ^(C3)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

"You ^(C1)shall certainly tithe all the produce from ^(F1)what you sow, which comes from the field every year.

"You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, ^(C1)at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may ^(C2)learn to fear the LORD your God always.

"But if the ^(F1)distance is so great for you that you are not able to ^(F2)bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses ^(C1)to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you,

then you shall ^(F1)exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses.

"And you may spend the money on whatever your ^(F1)heart desires: on oxen, sheep, wine, other strong drink, or whatever your ^(F1)heart ^(F2)desires; and ^(C1)there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

"Also you shall not neglect ^(C1)the Levite who is in your ^(F1)town, ^(C2)for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

"^(C1)At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and you shall deposit it in your ^(F1)town.

"And the Levite, ^(C1)because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and ^(C2)the stranger, the ^(F1)orphan, and the widow who are in your ^(F2)town, shall come and ^(C3)eat and be satisfied, in order that ^(C4)the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

"^(C1)At the end of every seven years you shall ^(F1)grant a release of debts.

"And this is the regulation for the release of debts: every creditor is to forgive what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not require it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD'S release has been proclaimed.

"^(C1)From a foreigner you may require it, but your hand shall ^(F1)forgive whatever of yours is with your brother.

"However, there will be no poor among you, since ^(C1)the LORD will certainly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess,

if only you listen obediently to the voice of the LORD your God, to ^(F1)follow carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today.

"^(C1)For the LORD your God will have blessed you just as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

"If there is ^(C1)a poor person among you, one of your brothers, in any of your ^(F1)towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, ^(C2)you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother;

but ^(C1)you shall fully open your hand to him, and generously lend him enough for his need in whatever he lacks.

"Be careful that there is no mean-spirited ^(F1)thought in your heart, ^(F2)such as, '^(C1)The seventh year, the year of release of debts, is near,' and ^(C2)your eye is malicious toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he ^(C3)may cry out to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you.

"You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be ^(F1)grudging when you give to him, because ^(C1)for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work, and in all ^(F2)your undertakings.

"^(C1)For the poor will not cease ^(F1)to exist in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, 'You shall fully open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.'

"^(C1)If your fellow countryman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him ^(F1)free.

"And when you set him ^(F1)free, you shall not send him away empty-handed.

"You shall give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.

"And you are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding ^(F1)this of you today.

"But it shall come about, ^(C1)if he says to you, 'I will not leave you,' because he loves you and your household, since he is doing well with you,

then you shall take an ^(F1)awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant permanently. You shall also do the same to your female slave.

"It shall not seem difficult for you when you set him ^(F1)free, because he has given you six years with double the ^(F2)service of a hired worker; so the LORD your God will bless you in whatever you do.

"^(C1)You shall consecrate to the LORD your God all the firstborn males that are born in your herd and in your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.

"^(C1)You and your household shall eat it every year before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses.

"^(C1)But if it has any impairment, such as a limp, or blindness, or any serious impairment, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

"You shall eat it within your gates; ^(C1)the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as ^(C1)a gazelle or a deer.

"Only ^(C1)you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

"Observe ^(C1)the month of Abib and ^(F1)(C2)celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

"You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name.

"^(C1)You shall not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in a hurry), so that you will remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt ^(C2)all the days of your life.

"For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in your entire territory, and ^(C1)none of the meat which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall be left overnight until the morning.

"You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your ^(F1)towns which the LORD your God is giving you;

but only ^(C1)at the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt.

"You shall ^(C1)cook and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents.

"For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and ^(C1)on the seventh day there shall be ^(C2)a festive assembly to the LORD your God; you shall do no work on it.

"^(C1)You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.

"Then you shall ^(F1)celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a ^(F2)voluntary offering of your hand in a proportional amount, which you shall give just as the LORD your God blesses you;

and you shall ^(C1)rejoice before the LORD your God, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and ^(C2)the Levite who is in your ^(F1)town, and ^(C3)the stranger, the ^(F2)orphan, and the widow who are in your midst, at the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name.

"^(C1)You shall also remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful and ^(F1)comply with these statutes.

"^(C1)You shall ^(F1)celebrate the Feast of ^(F2)Booths for seven days when you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat;

and you shall ^(C1)rejoice in your feast, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite, the stranger, the ^(F1)orphan, and the widow who are in your ^(F2)towns.

"For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

"^(C1)Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths; and ^(C2)they are not to appear before the LORD empty-handed.

"Everyone ^(F1)shall give as he is able, in accordance with the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.

"You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your ^(F1)towns which the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

"^(C1)You shall not distort justice, ^(C2)you shall not ^(F1)show partiality; and ^(C3)you shall not accept a bribe, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous.

"Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that ^(C1)you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

"^(C1)You shall not plant for yourself an ^(F1)Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourself.

"And ^(C1)you shall not set up for yourself a memorial stone, which the LORD your God hates.