CHAPTER 14 Apr. 27 
Clean and Unclean Food
You are the children of Yahweh your God. You must 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 must not eat any abominable thing. 4These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5the hart and the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the chamois. 6Every animal that has a split hoof and chews the cud among the animals, you may eat. 7Nevertheless these you must not eat of those that chew the cud or of those which have a split hoof: the camel, the hare and the rabbit. Because they chew the cud but don’t have a split hoof, they are unclean to you. 8The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you; of their flesh you shall not eat and their carcasses you shall not touch. 9These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales may you eat. 10Whatever doesn’t have fins and scales you must not eat; it is unclean to you. 11Of all clean birds you may eat. 12But these are the ones you must not eat: the eagle, the vulture and the osprey, 13the red kite, the falcon and the kite after its kind, 14every raven after its kind, 15the ostrich, the owl, the seagull and the hawk after its kind, 16the little owl, the great owl and the horned owl, 17the pelican, the vulture and the cormorant, 18the stork and the heron after its kind and 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 must 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 must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Tithes
 22You must surely tithe all the increase of your seed which comes forth from the field year by year. 23You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which He shall choose to cause His name to dwell there, 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 respect Yahweh your God always. 24If the way is too long for you, so that when Yahweh your God shall bless you, 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, 25then you must turn it into money and take the money in your hand and go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, 26and you may spend the money on whatever your soul desires, cattle or sheep, wine or strong drink, or whatever your soul asks of you, and you may eat there before Yahweh your God, and rejoice, you and your household. 27The Levite who is within your gates you must not forsake, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. 28At the end of every three years you must bring forth all the tithe of your increase in the same year and store it within your gates, 29and the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner living among you and 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.

Commentary

14:1 Whilst there is nothing morally wrong with cutting the skin, the idea was that Israel weren’t to even appear associated with pagan rituals for the dead. We likewise should naturally not want to even appear like worshippers of any other god (of whatever kind) when Yahweh is our only God. 
14:4 See notes on Lev. 11 for commentary on the clean and unclean food regulations.
14:21 You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk- This was likely a pagan ritual which Israel weren’t to follow. It may also be that God’s sensitivity to the feelings of animals is coming out here; and He wishes us to live lives regulated by sensitivity to all of creation. See on 20:19.
14:26 Rejoice, you and your household- There was to be joy in giving to God rather than any sense of resentment; and the families (“your household”) were to have this explained to them so that even the children learnt to rejoice in giving rather than being selfish. Again we see God’s emphasis on the need for giving to be done cheerfully; He simplyloves cheerful giving (2 Cor. 9:7).
14:27 There were three separate tithes commanded under the Law of Moses. Yet the tithing churches have simply said: ‘There’s something about tithing in the Old Testament. So, hey, give us 10% of your money!’. The first was the Levitical tithe of 10% on 100% of the produce for the first six years and was destined for the Levites and priests (Dt. 14:27; 12:19). The second tithe was the Festival tithe of 10% on 90% remaining produce after the Levitical tithe. This tithe had to be eaten in the presence of the Lord and was collected on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th years only. The third tithe was the tithe of the poor to be collected on the 3rd and 6th years only (Dt. 14:22-29; 26:12-15; Am. 4:4-5). No tithe was collected on the 7th year or Sabbatical year. The farmers were to let the land rest in that year. The tithe consisted of fruit, grain, wine and later animals that are typically harvested as produce from the land. It never consisted of money. Tithes were conducted annually and were based upon one’s produce increase for the year. This just isn’t talking about putting paper money or cheques on an offering plate each week as demanded by the tithing churches.