100 Bible Verses about Eating Shellfish

Leviticus 11:10 ESV / 321 helpful votes

But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you.

Leviticus 11:9-12 ESV / 306 helpful votes

“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 rivers, you may eat. But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you. You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

Leviticus 11:9 ESV / 285 helpful votes

“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 rivers, you may eat.

Leviticus 11:1-47 ESV / 273 helpful votes

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. ...

Romans 14:1-23 ESV / 265 helpful votes

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ...

Genesis 9:3 ESV / 254 helpful votes

Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

Mark 7:19 ESV / 201 helpful votes

Since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

Romans 14:14 ESV / 153 helpful votes

I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

Deuteronomy 14:1-29 ESV / 152 helpful votes

“You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. “You shall not eat any abomination. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. ...

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 146 helpful votes

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Leviticus 20:13 ESV / 146 helpful votes

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Hebrews 8:13 ESV / 138 helpful votes

In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Genesis 1:29 ESV / 126 helpful votes

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

Leviticus 11:3 ESV / 123 helpful votes

Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

Leviticus 19:19 ESV / 110 helpful votes

“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

Romans 12:3 ESV / 107 helpful votes

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Leviticus 11:2 ESV / 89 helpful votes

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.

Colossians 2:16 ESV / 81 helpful votes

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

Matthew 5:17 ESV / 81 helpful votes

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Leviticus 11:11 ESV / 80 helpful votes

You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses.

Leviticus 11:7 ESV / 80 helpful votes

And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.

Leviticus 11:12 ESV / 74 helpful votes

Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

Leviticus 11:8 ESV / 72 helpful votes

You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

Leviticus 18:22 ESV / 67 helpful votes

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

1 Corinthians 10:25 ESV / 62 helpful votes

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.

Acts 10:9-16 ESV / 61 helpful votes

The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” ...

Colossians 2:1-23 ESV / 60 helpful votes

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. ...

Leviticus 20:9 ESV / 60 helpful votes

For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

Leviticus 11:13 ESV / 60 helpful votes

“And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

Isaiah 66:15-17 ESV / 59 helpful votes

“For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the Lord shall be many. “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.

Acts 10:1-48 ESV / 58 helpful votes

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. ...

Deuteronomy 14:9 ESV / 57 helpful votes

“Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat.

1 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV / 54 helpful votes

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Acts 15:1-41 ESV / 54 helpful votes

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” ...

Romans 14:20 ESV / 53 helpful votes

Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.

Deuteronomy 14:8 ESV / 53 helpful votes

And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.

Deuteronomy 14:21 ESV / 52 helpful votes

“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Leviticus 11:4 ESV / 52 helpful votes

Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.

Romans 10:4 ESV / 51 helpful votes

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Matthew 5:18 ESV / 51 helpful votes

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Ephesians 2:8 ESV / 50 helpful votes

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 49 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

Leviticus 19:27 ESV / 49 helpful votes

You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.

Genesis 1:30 ESV / 49 helpful votes

And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Romans 7:14 ESV / 48 helpful votes

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

Leviticus 11:5 ESV / 48 helpful votes

And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.

1 Timothy 4:4 ESV / 47 helpful votes

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Deuteronomy 14:10 ESV / 47 helpful votes

And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

Deuteronomy 14:6 ESV / 47 helpful votes

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

Leviticus 11:47 ESV / 47 helpful votes

To 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.

Leviticus 11:6 ESV / 47 helpful votes

And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.

1 Corinthians 6:15-20 ESV / 46 helpful votes

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ...

Romans 14:17 ESV / 46 helpful votes

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Leviticus 11:44 ESV / 46 helpful votes

For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.

Leviticus 11:15 ESV / 46 helpful votes

Every raven of any kind,

Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 45 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ...

1 Corinthians 10:1-33 ESV / 45 helpful votes

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. ...

1 Corinthians 8:8 ESV / 45 helpful votes

Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

1 Corinthians 6:9 ESV / 45 helpful votes

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,

Romans 1:26-27 ESV / 45 helpful votes

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Matthew 15:11 ESV / 45 helpful votes

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Leviticus 11:20 ESV / 45 helpful votes

“All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you.

Leviticus 11:46 ESV / 44 helpful votes

This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground,

Leviticus 11:22 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind.

Colossians 4:1-18 ESV / 43 helpful votes

Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. ...

Colossians 3:1-25 ESV / 43 helpful votes

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ...

Romans 14:2 ESV / 43 helpful votes

One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.

Matthew 5:17-18 ESV / 43 helpful votes

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Matthew 4:4 ESV / 43 helpful votes

But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Colossians 2:16-17 ESV / 42 helpful votes

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Acts 10:14 ESV / 42 helpful votes

But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”

Deuteronomy 14:3 ESV / 42 helpful votes

“You shall not eat any abomination.

Leviticus 19:28 ESV / 42 helpful votes

You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

Acts 10:15 ESV / 41 helpful votes

And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

Deuteronomy 14:11 ESV / 41 helpful votes

“You may eat all clean birds.

Deuteronomy 14:7 ESV / 41 helpful votes

Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you.

Leviticus 11:33 ESV / 41 helpful votes

And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it.

Proverbs 23:2 ESV / 40 helpful votes

And put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.

Deuteronomy 14:5 ESV / 40 helpful votes

The deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

Deuteronomy 14:4 ESV / 40 helpful votes

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

Leviticus 11:28 ESV / 40 helpful votes

And he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

Leviticus 11:16 ESV / 40 helpful votes

The ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind,

Leviticus 11:1 ESV / 40 helpful votes

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,

Colossians 1:1-29 ESV / 39 helpful votes

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, ...

Leviticus 11:17 ESV / 39 helpful votes

The little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl,

Deuteronomy 14:13 ESV / 38 helpful votes

The kite, the falcon of any kind;

Leviticus 11:39 ESV / 38 helpful votes

“And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening,

1 Timothy 4:1 ESV / 37 helpful votes

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

Mark 7:1-37 ESV / 37 helpful votes

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” ...

Deuteronomy 14:16 ESV / 37 helpful votes

The little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl

Romans 14:3 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

Deuteronomy 14:15 ESV / 36 helpful votes

The ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind;

Deuteronomy 14:14 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Every raven of any kind;

Leviticus 11:18 ESV / 36 helpful votes

The barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture,

Genesis 9:1-29 ESV / 36 helpful votes

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. ...

Deuteronomy 14:18 ESV / 35 helpful votes

The stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat.

Genesis 7:2 ESV / 35 helpful votes

Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,

Hebrews 13:8 ESV / 33 helpful votes

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Ephesians 2:15 ESV / 33 helpful votes

By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

Leviticus 11:45 ESV / 32 helpful votes

For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

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