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
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 6
Laws Concerning Nazirites. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When men or women solemnly take the nazirite[a] vow to dedicate themselves to the Lord, 3 they shall abstain from wine and strong drink;(A) they may neither drink wine vinegar, other vinegar, or any kind of grape juice, nor eat either fresh or dried grapes. 4 As long as they are nazirites they shall not eat anything of the produce of the grapevine; not even the seeds or the skins. 5 While they are under the nazirite vow, no razor shall touch their hair.(B) Until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over, they shall be holy, letting the hair of their heads grow freely. 6 As long as they are dedicated to the Lord, they shall not come near a dead person.(C) 7 Not even for their father or mother, sister or brother, should they defile themselves, when these die, since their heads bear their dedication to God. 8 As long as they are nazirites they are holy to the Lord.
9 If someone dies very suddenly in their presence, defiling their dedicated heads, they shall shave their heads on the day of their purification, that is, on the seventh day. 10 On the eighth day they shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 11 The priest shall offer up the one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, thus making atonement for them for the sin they committed with respect to the corpse. On the same day they shall reconsecrate their heads 12 and rededicate themselves to the Lord for the period of their dedication, bringing a yearling lamb as a reparation offering. The previous period is not valid, because they defiled their dedicated heads.
13 This is the ritual for the nazirites:(D) When the period of their dedication is complete they shall go to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 bringing their offerings to the Lord, one unblemished yearling lamb for a burnt offering, one unblemished yearling ewe lamb for a purification offering, one unblemished ram as a communion offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened cakes of bran flour mixed with oil and of unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offerings and libations. 16 The priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall offer up the purification offering and the burnt offering for them. 17 He shall then offer up the ram as a communion sacrifice to the Lord, along with the basket of unleavened cakes, and the priest will offer the grain offering and libation. 18 Then at the entrance of the tent of meeting the nazirite shall shave his or her dedicated head, take the hair of the dedicated head, and put it in the fire under the communion sacrifice. 19 After the nazirite has shaved off the dedicated hair, the priest shall take a boiled shoulder of the ram, as well as one unleavened cake from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them in the hands of the nazirite. 20 The priest shall then elevate them as an elevated offering before the Lord. They are an offering belonging to the priest, along with the brisket of the elevated offering and the leg of the contribution. Only after this may the nazirite drink wine.
21 This, then, is the law for the nazirites, that is, what they vow as their offering to the Lord in accord with their dedication, apart from anything else which their means may allow. In keeping with the vow they take so shall they do, according to the law of their dedication.
The Priestly Blessing. 22 The Lord said to Moses: 23 Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you!
25 The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
26 The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace![b]
27 So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.
Footnotes
- 6:2–21 Nazirite: from the Hebrew word nazir, meaning “set apart as sacred, dedicated, vowed.” The nazirite vow could be either for a limited period or for life. Those bound by this vow had to abstain from all the products of the grapevine, from cutting or shaving their hair, and from contact with a corpse. They were regarded as men and women of God like the prophets; cf. Am 2:11–12. Examples of lifelong nazirites were Samson (Jgs 13:4–5, 7; 16:17), Samuel (1 Sm 1:11), and John the Baptist (Lk 1:15). At the time of Jesus the practice of taking the nazirite vow for a limited period seems to have been quite common, even among the early Christians; cf. Acts 18:18; 21:23–24, 26.
- 6:26 Peace: the Hebrew word Shalom includes the idea of happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship, and general well-being. To use this term as a greeting was to pray for all these things upon the one greeted.
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