The Nazirites

6 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites: ‘A man or a woman might want to promise to belong to the Lord in a special way. This person will be called a Nazirite. ³ During this time, he must not drink wine or beer. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or beer. He must not even drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. ⁴ While he is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine. He must not even eat the seeds or the skin.

⁵ “‘During the time he promised to belong to the Lord, he must not cut his hair. He must be holy until this special time is over. He must let his hair grow long. ⁶ During his special time of belonging to the Lord, a Nazirite must not go near a dead body. ⁷ Even if his own father, mother, brother or sister dies, he must not touch them. This would make him unclean. He must still keep his promise to belong to God in a special way. ⁸ While he is a Nazirite, he belongs to the Lord.

⁹ “‘If he is next to someone who dies suddenly, his hair has been made unclean. It was part of his promise. So he must shave his head seven days later to be clean. ¹⁰ Then on the eighth day, he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest. The priest will be at the entrance to the Holy Tent. ¹¹ The priest will offer one as a sin offering. He will offer the other as a burnt offering. This removes sin so the man will belong to God. He had sinned because he was near a dead body. That same day he will again promise to let his hair grow for the Lord. ¹² He must give himself to the Lord for another special time. He must bring a male lamb a year old. It will be a penalty offering. The days of the special time before don’t count. This is because he became unclean during his first special time.

¹³ “‘This is the teaching for a Nazirite. When the promised time is over, he must go to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. ¹⁴ There he will give his offerings to the Lord. He must offer a year-old male lamb as a burnt offering. It must have nothing wrong with it. He must also offer a year-old female lamb as a sin offering. There must be nothing wrong with it. And he must bring a male sheep for a fellowship offering. There must be nothing wrong with it. ¹⁵ He must also bring the grain offerings and drink offerings that go with them. And he must bring a basket of bread made without yeast. There must be loaves made with fine flour mixed with oil. And there must be wafers made without yeast spread with oil.

¹⁶ “‘The priest will give these offerings to the Lord. He will make the sin offering and the burnt offering. ¹⁷ Then he will kill the male sheep as a fellowship offering to the Lord. Along with it, he will present the basket of bread. He will also make the grain offering and the drink offering along with it.

¹⁸ “‘The Nazirite must go to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. There he must shave off his hair that he grew for his promise. The hair will be put in the fire that is under the sacrifice on the fellowship offering.

¹⁹ “‘After the Nazirite cuts off his hair, the priest will give him a boiled shoulder from the male sheep. From the basket he will also give him a loaf and a wafer. Both are made without yeast. ²⁰ Then the priest will present them to the Lord. This is an offering presented before the Lord. They are holy and belong to the priest. Also, he is to present the breast and the thigh from the male sheep to the Lord. They also belong to the priest. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹ “‘This is the teaching for the Nazirite promise. If a person makes the Nazirite promise, he must give all of these gifts to the Lord. If he promised to do more, he must keep his promise. That is also the teaching of the Nazirite promise.’”

The Priests’ Blessings

²² The Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you should bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁷ “So Aaron and his sons will bless the Israelites with my name. And I will bless them.”