The Bible — World English Bible

Deuteronomy 14

In brief

Deuteronomy 14 reminds Israel of its identity: children of the Lord, a holy people chosen out of all peoples. From this identity flow concrete rules: no cutting yourselves for the dead, telling clean animals from unclean ones, then setting the tithe aside. It is first eaten with the family before God, in joy. Every third year, it is stored up in the towns for the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow.

The chapter in 4 parts

  1. v. 1-2Children of the Lord: a holy people, even in mourning
  2. v. 3-21Clean and unclean animals
  3. v. 22-27The tithe, a feast before the Lord
  4. v. 28-29The tithe of the third year for the most vulnerable

1You are the children of Yahweh your God. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

2For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.

3You shall not eat any abominable thing.

4These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,

5the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the chamois.

6Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

7Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof split: the camel, the hare, and the rabbit. Because they chew the cud but don’t part the hoof, they are unclean to you.

8The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat their meat. You shall not touch their carcasses.

9These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat whatever has fins and scales.

10You shall not eat whatever doesn’t have fins and scales. It is unclean to you.

11Of all clean birds you may eat.

12But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey,

13the red kite, the falcon, the kite after its kind,

14every raven after its kind,

15the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, the hawk after its kind,

16the little owl, the great owl, the horned owl,

17the pelican, the vulture, the cormorant,

18the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

19All winged creeping things are unclean to you. They shall not be eaten.

20Of all clean birds you may eat.

21You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

22You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out of the field year by year.

23You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he chooses to cause his name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always.

24If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it because the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to set his name there is too far from you, when Yahweh your God blesses you,

25then you shall turn it into money, bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose.

26You shall trade the money for whatever your soul desires: for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you. You shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

27You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you.

28At the end of every three years you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall store it within your gates.

29The Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, as well as the foreigner living among you, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Key verses

Verse 1-2
You are the children of Yahweh your God. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.

The Israelites are called children of the Lord and a holy people. From this identity comes a way of living, even in grief, that does not look like the practices of the neighboring nations.

Verse 22-23
You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out of the field year by year. You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he chooses to cause his name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always.

Each year Israel sets aside the tithe of its crops and its livestock, and eats it before the Lord. The stated purpose is to learn to fear God always.

Verse 26
You shall trade the money for whatever your soul desires: for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you. You shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

When the road is too long, the tithe can be turned into money, with which you buy what you need to rejoice before God. The tithe here is a family feast, not a burden.

Verse 28-29
At the end of every three years you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall store it within your gates. The Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, as well as the foreigner living among you, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Every three years, the tithe is stored up in the towns for the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow. Generosity toward God and toward the most vulnerable go together.

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What the sermons say

Tithing, a Feast Before God: Living Without Mammon (Deuteronomy 14)The preacher reads verses 22 to 29: the tithe is not first of all an obligation but a feast planned before God. Every three years it goes to the foreigner, the orphan and the widow. The Christian's standard remains generosity.Read the summary →Live as a Child of the LordChapters 14 to 16 are read from the angle of being a child of God. The preacher sees in verse 1 a different kind of mourning: the neighboring nations cut themselves because they had no hope beyond the grave.Read the summary →Living Without Mammon: Tithe, Firstfruits, and a Generosity PlanThe tithe is presented as the art of planning your generosity. The message notes that the New Testament no longer prescribes an amount, but a principle: storing up treasures in heaven.Read the summary →Does the State Owe Us Solidarity? Biblical Bearings on Church and WelfareDaniel Hillion points out that the tithe of the third year and the fallow of the seventh already assume a community working on a fairly large scale, close to a form of redistribution.Read the summary →How to Live Free From Mammon: Three Challenges for This SummerThe first challenge is drawn from Deuteronomy 14:22-27: set aside, plan your generosity. The text gives two reasons for this act, and the tithe becomes a way to live free from the grip of money.Read the summary →

Frequently asked questions about Deuteronomy 14

What does Deuteronomy 14 teach about the tithe?

Each year Israel set aside a tenth of its crops and livestock, and ate it before the Lord with the family. It was a feast of thanksgiving. Every three years, the tithe was stored up in the towns for the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow. The tithe thus served joy and solidarity.

Do Christians still have to tithe?

Opinions differ. Some see it as a landmark of generosity worth keeping, others note that the New Testament gives a principle rather than an amount: be generous, cheerfully, according to your means. Several sermons on the site remind us that the standard is generosity, which may go beyond or fall below ten percent depending on the situation.

Why does God distinguish between clean and unclean animals?

The text ties these rules to Israel's identity: a holy people, set apart for the Lord. The precise reasons for each prohibition are not all given. Christians differ on their scope today: many hold that Christ fulfilled the law, while keeping the idea of living in line with belonging to God.

Articles quoting Deuteronomy 14

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World English Bible translation — public domain.