Meditate

11. Clean and Unclean Food

Clean and Unclean Foods

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The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them:²Speak to the people of Israel, saying:

From among all the land animals, these are the creatures that you may eat.³Any animal that has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed and chews the cud—such you may eat.⁴But among those that chew the cud or have divided hoofs, you shall not eat the following: the camel, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you.⁵The rock badger, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you.⁶The hare, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you.⁷The pig, for even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed, it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.⁸Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.

⁹ These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams—such you may eat.¹⁰But anything in the seas or the streams that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and among all the other living creatures that are in the waters—they are detestable to you¹¹and detestable they shall remain. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall regard as detestable.¹²Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

¹³ These you shall regard as detestable among the birds. They shall not be eaten; they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey,¹⁴the buzzard, the kite of any kind;¹⁵every raven of any kind;¹⁶the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind;¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,¹⁸the water hen, the desert owl, the carrion vulture,¹⁹the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ All winged insects that walk upon all fours are detestable to you.²¹But among the winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to leap on the ground.²²Of them you may eat: the locust according to its kind, the bald locust according to its kind, the cricket according to its kind, and the grasshopper according to its kind.²³But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.

Unclean Animals

²⁴ By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening,²⁵and whoever carries any part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.²⁶Every animal that has divided hoofs but is not cleft-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean for you; everyone who touches one of them shall be unclean.²⁷All that walk on their paws, among the animals that walk on all fours, are unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening,²⁸and the one who carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean for you.

²⁹ These are unclean for you among the creatures that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, the mouse, the great lizard according to its kind,³⁰the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.³¹These are unclean for you among all that swarm; whoever touches one of them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.³²And anything upon which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether an article of wood or cloth or skin or sacking, any article that is used for any purpose; it shall be dipped into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening, and then it shall be clean.³³And if any of them falls into any earthen vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break the vessel.³⁴Any food that could be eaten shall be unclean if water from any such vessel comes upon it; and any liquid that could be drunk shall be unclean if it was in any such vessel.³⁵Everything on which any part of the carcass falls shall be unclean; whether an oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean, and shall remain unclean for you.³⁶But a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, while whatever touches the carcass in it shall be unclean.³⁷If any part of their carcass falls upon any seed set aside for sowing, it is clean;³⁸but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

³⁹ If an animal of which you may eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.⁴⁰Those who eat of its carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening; and those who carry the carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹ All creatures that swarm upon the earth are detestable; they shall not be eaten.⁴²Whatever moves on its belly, and whatever moves on all fours, or whatever has many feet, all the creatures that swarm upon the earth, you shall not eat; for they are detestable.⁴³You shall not make yourselves detestable with any creature that swarms; you shall not defile yourselves with them, and so become unclean.⁴⁴For I am the Lord your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming creature that moves on the earth.⁴⁵For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy.

⁴⁶ This is the law pertaining to land animal and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms upon the earth,⁴⁷to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

5. Expel the Immoral Brother

Sexual Immorality Must Be Judged

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons—¹⁰not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world.¹¹But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one.¹²For what have I to do with judging those outside? Is it not those who are inside that you are to judge?¹³God will judge those outside. “Drive out the wicked person from among you.”

104. Psalm 104

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You have made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.

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You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.

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The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

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When the sun rises, they withdraw

and lie down in their dens.

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People go out to their work

and to their labor until the evening.

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O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

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Yonder is the sea, great and wide,

creeping things innumerable are there,

living things both small and great.

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There go the ships,

and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

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These all look to you

to give them their food in due season;

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when you give to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

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When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

when you take away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.

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When you send forth your spirit, they are created;

and you renew the face of the ground.

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May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works—

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who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains and they smoke.

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I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

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May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

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Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Praise the Lord!