Deuteronomy 14-16New King James Version (NKJV)
Improper Mourning
14 “You are the children of
the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front
of your head for the dead. 2 For you are a
holy people to the Lordyour God, and the Lord has chosen you to
be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on
the face of the earth.
Clean and Unclean Meat
3 “You shall not eat any detestable
thing. 4 These are the animals
which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the
deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat,[a] the antelope, and the
mountain sheep. 6 And you may eat every animal with
cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and thatchews
the cud, among the animals. 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 rock hyrax; for they chew the
cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for
you. 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.
9 “These you may eat of all
that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and
scales. 10 And whatever does not have fins and
scales you shall not eat; it isunclean for you.
11 “All clean birds you may
eat. 12 But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the
vulture, the buzzard, 13 the red kite, the falcon,
and the kite after their kinds;14 every raven after its
kind; 15 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea
gull, and the hawk after their kinds; 16 the little
owl, the screech owl, the white owl, 17 the
jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl, 18 the
stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat.
19 “Also every creeping thing that
flies is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.
20 “You may eat all clean birds.
21 “You shall not eat anything that
dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who iswithin
your gates, 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 young goat in its mother’s milk.
Tithing Principles
22 “You shall truly tithe all the
increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. 23 And
you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses
to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil,
of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear
the Lord your God always. 24 But if the
journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the
tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to
put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed
you, 25 then you shall exchange it for
money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which
the Lord your God chooses. 26 And you
shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for
wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there
before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your
household. 27 You shall not forsake the Levite
who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance
with you.
28 “At the end of every third
year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up
within your gates. 29 And the Levite, because he
has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless
and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and
be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of
your hand which you do.
Debts Canceled Every Seven Years
15 “At the end of every seven
years you shall grant a release of debts. 2 And
this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has
lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he
shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because
it is called the Lord’s release. 3 Of a
foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim
to what is owed by your brother, 4 except when
there may be no poor among you; for the Lord will greatly bless you
in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an
inheritance— 5 only if you carefully obey the voice
of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments
which I command you today. 6 For
the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend
to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations,
but they shall not reign over you.
Generosity to the Poor
7 “If there is among you a poor man
of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which
the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor
shut your hand from your poor brother, 8 but you
shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his
need, whatever he needs. 9 Beware lest there be a
wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release,
is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him
nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it become sin
among you.10 You shall surely give to him, and your
heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing
the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to
which you put your hand. 11 For the poor will never
cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand
wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’
The Law Concerning Bondservants
12 “If your brother, a Hebrew man, or
a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh
year you shall let him go free from you. 13 And
when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away
empty-handed; 14 you shall supply him liberally
from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From
what the Lord your God has blessed you with, you shall give
to him. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave
in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I
command you this thing today.16 And if it happens that
he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your
house, since he prospers with you, 17 then you
shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door,
and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do
likewise. 18 It shall not seem hard to you when you
send him away free from you; for he has been worth a double hired servant in
serving you six years. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all
that you do.
The Law Concerning Firstborn Animals
19 “All the firstborn males that come
from your herd and your flock you shall sanctify to the Lord your
God; you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the
firstborn of your flock. 20 You and your household
shall eat it before the Lord your God year by year
in the place which the Lord chooses. 21 But
if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or
has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to
the Lord your God. 22 You may eat it
within your gates; the unclean and the clean person alike may
eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer. 23 Only
you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.
The Passover Reviewed
16 “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the
Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib
the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.2 Therefore
you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock
and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to put His
name. 3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it;
seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the
bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you
may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of
your life. 4 And no leaven shall be seen among you
in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the
meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until
morning.
5 “You may not sacrifice the Passover
within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you; 6 but
at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide,
there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the
sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. 7 And you
shall roast and eat it in the place which
the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go
to your tents. 8 Six days you shall eat unleavened
bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly
to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.
The Feast of Weeks Reviewed
9 “You shall count seven weeks for
yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you
begin to put the sickle to the grain. 10 Then
you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the
tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as
the Lord your God blesses you. 11 You
shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your
daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within
your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among
you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name
abide. 12 And you shall remember that you were a
slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.
The Feast of Tabernacles Reviewed
13 “You shall observe the Feast of
Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and
from your winepress. 14 And you shall rejoice in
your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your
female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow,
who are within your gates. 15 Seven
days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lordyour 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 surely
rejoice.
16 “Three times a year all your males
shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses:
at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of
Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. 17 Every
man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of
the Lordyour God which He has given you.
Justice Must Be Administered
18 “You shall appoint judges and
officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you,
according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just
judgment. 19 You shall not pervert justice; you
shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the
wise and twists the words of the righteous.20 You shall
follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which
the Lord your God is giving you.
21 “You shall not plant for yourself
any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to
the Lord your God. 22 You shall not set
up a sacredpillar, which the Lord your God hates.
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