Law of the Nazirites

6 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, that is, one separated and dedicated to the Lord, ³ he shall abstain 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.^{(A) 4 [a]}All the time of his separation he shall not eat anything produced from the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.

⁵ ‘All the time of the vow of his separation no razor shall be used on his head. Until the time of his separation to the Lord is completed, he shall be holy, and shall let the hair of his head grow long.

⁶ ‘All the time that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body. ⁷ He shall not make himself [ceremonially] unclean for his father, mother, brother, or sister, when they die, because [the responsibility for] his separation to God is on his head. ⁸ All the time of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

⁹ ‘If a man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his dedicated head, then he shall shave his head on the day that he becomes [ceremonially] clean; he shall shave it on the seventh day [the end of the purification period]. ¹⁰ On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). ¹¹ The priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering and make atonement for him concerning his sin because of the [dead] body. He shall consecrate his head the same day, ¹² and he shall dedicate himself to the Lord for the time of his separation and shall bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the previous days will be void and lost, because his separation was defiled.

¹³ ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his separation and dedication are fulfilled: he shall bring the offering to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). ¹⁴ and he shall offer his gift to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering, and one female lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering, ¹⁵ and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offering. ¹⁶ Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and shall offer the person’s sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷ He shall also offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. ¹⁸ The Nazirite shall shave his dedicated head at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and take the dedicated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. ¹⁹ The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened [ring-shaped] loaf out of the basket, and one unleavened flat cake and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his dedicated hair. ²⁰ Then the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord; they are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered by lifting up; and afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

²¹ “This is the law for the ^[b]Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord for his separation, besides what else ^[c]he is able to afford, according to the vow which he has vowed; so shall he do according to the law for his separation and abstinence [as a Nazirite].”^(B)

Aaron’s Benediction

²² Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁷ So Aaron and his sons shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord spoke further to Moses, saying, ² “Make two trumpets of silver; you shall make them of hammered work. You shall use them to summon the congregation and to have the camps move out. ³ When both are blown, all the congregation [that is, all adult males] shall gather before you at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). ⁴ However, if a single trumpet is blown, then the leaders, heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. ⁵ When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. ⁶ When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps on the south side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. They shall blow an alarm whenever they are to move out [on their journeys]. ⁷ When the assembly is to be gathered, you shall blow [the trumpets in short, sharp tones], but without sounding an alarm. ⁸ The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and the trumpets shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁹ When you go to war in your land against the enemy that attacks you, then sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also in the day of rejoicing, and in your appointed feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”

The Tribes Leave Sinai

¹¹ On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year [since leaving Egypt], the cloud [of the Lord’s presence] was lifted from over the tabernacle of the Testimony, ¹² and the Israelites set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud [of the Lord’s guiding presence] settled down in the Wilderness of Paran. ¹³ So they moved out for the first time in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses. ¹⁴ The ^[a]standard of the camp of the sons of Judah, according to their armies, moved out first, Nahshon the son of Amminadab was [commander] over its army, ¹⁵ and Nethanel the son of Zuar was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar; ¹⁶ and Eliab the son of Helon was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.

¹⁷ Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, moved out. ¹⁸ Next the ^[b]standard of the camp of the sons of Reuben, according to their armies, moved out, with Elizur the son of Shedeur [commander] over its army, ¹⁹ and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon, ²⁰ and Eliasaph the son of Deuel was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Gad.

²¹ Then the Kohathites moved out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before they arrived. ²² Next the ^[c]standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim moved out, according to their armies, with Elishama the son of Ammihud [commander] over its army, ²³ and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh, ²⁴ and Abidan the son of Gideoni was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.

²⁵ Then the ^[d]standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, according to their armies, which formed the rear guard for all the camps, moved out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai [commander] over its army, ²⁶ and Pagiel the son of Ochran was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Asher, ²⁷ and Ahira the son of Enan was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali. ²⁸ This was the order of march of the sons of Israel by their armies as they moved out.

²⁹ Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are going to the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will be good to you, for the Lord has promised good [things] concerning Israel.” ³⁰ But Hobab [Moses’ brother-in-law] said to him, “I will not go; I will return to my own land and to my family.” ³¹ Then Moses said, “^[e]Please do not leave us, for you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us [as we make our trek through the desert]. ³² So if you will go with us, it shall be that ^[f]whatever good the Lord does for us, we will do the same for you.”

³³ So they set out from the mountain of the Lord (Sinai) three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went in front of them during the three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them. ³⁴ The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵ Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,

³⁶ And when the ark rested, Moses said,