The Wilderness Years

the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,

the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,

the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, or the bat.

All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten.

But you may eat any clean bird.

You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields.

And you are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

But if the distance is too great for you to carry that with which the LORD your God has blessed you, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to put His Name is too far away,

then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place the LORD your God will choose.

Then you may spend the money on anything you desire: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or anything you wish. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your household.

And do not neglect the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates.

Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed.

You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance,

if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today.

When the LORD your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none.

If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.

Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.

Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.