Numbers 6
Legacy Standard Bible
The Nazirite Vow
6 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a [a]special vow, the vow of (A)a [b]Nazirite, to dedicate himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh, 3 he shall (B)abstain as a Nazirite from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. 4 All the days of his [c]Nazirite vow he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.
5 ‘All the days of his vow as a Nazirite (C)no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he dedicated himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.
6 ‘(D)All the days of his dedication as a Nazirite to Yahweh he shall not go near to a dead person. 7 He (E)shall not defile himself for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because the Nazirite vow to his God is on his head. 8 All the days of his Nazirite vow he is holy to Yahweh.
9 ‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles the head of hair during his Nazirite vow, then (F)he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; (G)he shall shave it on the seventh day. 10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring (H)two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 11 And the priest shall offer (I)one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering and make atonement for him [d]concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall set apart his head as holy, 12 and shall dedicate to Yahweh the days of his [e]Nazirite vow and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his Nazirite vow was defiled.
13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite (J)when the days of his Nazirite vow are fulfilled: he shall bring [f]the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 14 And he shall bring his offering near to Yahweh: one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering and one (K)ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering and one ram without blemish for a peace offering, 15 and a basket of (L)unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with (M)their grain offering and their drink offering. 16 Then the priest shall bring them near before Yahweh and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17 He shall also offer with the ram a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall likewise offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 (N)The Nazirite shall then shave the head of hair for his Nazirite vow at the doorway of the tent of meeting and take the hair of his head of his Nazirite vow and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19 (O)And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the [g]hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the hair of his Nazirite vow. 20 Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by [h]raising up; and (P)afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’
21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh according to his Nazirite vow, in addition to what else [i]he can afford; according to his vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the law of his Nazirite vow.”
Yahweh Blesses the Sons of Israel
22 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus (Q)you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:
27 So they shall [k](X)invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 6:2 Or difficult
- Numbers 6:2 Lit one separated
- Numbers 6:4 Or living as a Nazirite, so through v 21
- Numbers 6:11 Lit because of that which he sinned
- Numbers 6:12 Lit one separated
- Numbers 6:13 Lit it
- Numbers 6:19 Lit palms
- Numbers 6:20 Or heaving up
- Numbers 6:21 Lit his hand can reach
- Numbers 6:26 Or countenance
- Numbers 6:27 Lit put
Numbers 6
Common English Bible
Instructions for the nazirite
6 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If a man or a woman makes a binding promise to be a nazirite in order to be dedicated to the Lord, 3 that person must refrain from wine and brandy. He or she may not drink wine vinegar or brandy vinegar, nor drink any grape juice or eat grapes, whether fresh or dried. 4 While a nazirite, the person may not eat anything produced from the grapevine, not even its seeds or skin.
5 For the term of the nazirite promise, no razor may be used on the head until the period of dedication to the Lord is fulfilled. The person is to be holy, letting his or her hair grow untrimmed. 6 The period of dedication to the Lord also requires that the person not go near a corpse, 7 whether father, mother, brother, or sister. Nazirites should not defile themselves because of the death of these people, because they bear the sign of their dedication to God on their heads.
8 While a nazirite, the person is holy to the Lord. 9 If someone suddenly dies nearby, defiling the head of the nazirite, he or she will shave the head on the day of cleansing; they will shave it on the seventh day. 10 On the eighth day the person will bring two turtledoves or two young doves to the priest at the entrance of the meeting tent. 11 The priest will offer one for a purification offering and the other as an entirely burned offering. He will seek reconciliation for the person on account of the guilt acquired from the corpse, and he will make the head holy again on that same day. 12 The person will be rededicated to the Lord as a nazirite and bring a one-year-old male lamb for a compensation offering. The previous period will be invalid, because the nazirite promise was defiled.
13 This is the Instruction for the nazirite. When the term as a nazirite is completed, the person will be brought to the entrance of the meeting tent 14 and offer a gift to the Lord, consisting of a flawless one-year-old male lamb as an entirely burned offering, a flawless one-year-old female lamb as a purification offering, one flawless ram as a well-being sacrifice, 15 and a basket of loaves of unleavened bread made with fine flour and mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offering. 16 The priest will come close to the Lord and offer the purification and entirely burned offerings. 17 The ram he will offer as a well-being sacrifice to the Lord with the basket of unleavened bread; then the priest will offer the grain offering and the drink offering. 18 The nazirite will shave his ordained head at the meeting tent’s entrance, take the hair from his ordained head, and put it in the fire under the well-being sacrifice. 19 The priest will take the shoulder from the ram after it is boiled, one piece of unleavened bread from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and place them in the hands of the nazirite after the ordained head is shaved. 20 Then the priest will raise them as an uplifted offering before the Lord; they are holy to the priest, with the breast of the uplifted offering and the thigh of the gift offering. After this the nazirite may drink wine.
21 This is the instruction for the nazirite who takes the solemn promise. That person’s offering to the Lord will be in accordance with the nazirite promise, in addition to whatever else the person may have offered. The person must do just as they have promised, in adherence with the nazirite promise.
Priestly blessing
22 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 Tell Aaron and his sons: You will bless the Israelites as follows. Say to them:
24 The Lord bless you and protect you.
25 The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
26 The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace.
27 They will place my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.
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