The Nazirite Vow

6 The Lord instructed Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man or woman makes a special vow, a Nazirite vow,^(A) to consecrate himself to the Lord, ³ he is to abstain from wine and beer.^(B) He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from beer. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴ He is not to eat anything produced by the grapevine, from seeds to skin, during the period of his consecration.

⁵ “You must not cut his hair^[a] throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He may be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long. ⁶ He must not go near a dead body during the time he consecrates himself to the Lord.^{(C) 7} He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, while the mark of consecration to his God is on his head. ⁸ He is holy to the Lord^(D) during the time of consecration.

⁹ “If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day.^{(E) 10} On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.^{(F) 11} The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering^(G) to make atonement on behalf of the Nazirite, since he incurred guilt because of the corpse. On that day he is to consecrate his head again.^{(H) 12} He is to rededicate his time of consecration to the Lord and to bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering.^(I) But do not count the initial period of consecration because it became defiled.

¹³ “This is the law of the Nazirite: On the day his time of consecration is completed, he is to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.^{(J) 14} He is to present an offering to the Lord^(K) of one unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, one unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, one unblemished ram as a fellowship offering,^{(L) 15} along with their grain offerings and drink offerings,^(M) and a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil.^(N)

¹⁶ “The priest is to present these before the Lord and sacrifice the Nazirite’s sin offering and burnt offering. ¹⁷ He will also offer the ram as a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest will offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.

¹⁸ “The Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair from his head, and put it on the fire under the fellowship sacrifice. ¹⁹ The priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands^(O) of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head. ²⁰ The priest is to present them as a presentation offering before the Lord.^(P) It is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution.^(Q) After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹ “These are the instructions about the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord for his consecration,^(R) in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes in keeping with the instructions for his consecration.”

The Priestly Blessing

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

²⁷ In this way they will pronounce my name over^[c] the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Two Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Make two trumpets of hammered silver to summon the community^(A) and have the camps set out. ³ When both are sounded in long blasts, the entire community is to gather before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁴ However, if one is sounded, only the leaders, the heads of Israel’s clans,^(B) are to gather before you.

⁵ “When you sound short blasts, the camps pitched on the east^(C) are to set out. ⁶ When you sound short blasts a second time, the camps pitched on the south^(D) are to set out. Short blasts are to be sounded for them to set out. ⁷ When calling the assembly together, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones. ⁸ The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to sound the trumpets. Your use of these is a permanent statute throughout your generations.

⁹ “When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who is attacking you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God and be saved from your enemies.^{(E) 10} You are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your fellowship sacrifices and on your joyous occasions, your appointed festivals, and the beginning of each of your months. They will serve as a reminder for you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”^(F)

From Sinai to Paran

¹¹ During the second year, in the second month on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was lifted up above the tabernacle of the testimony. ¹² The Israelites traveled on from the Wilderness of Sinai, moving from one place to the next^(G) until the cloud stopped in the Wilderness of Paran.^{(H) 13} They set out for the first time according to the Lord’s command through Moses.^(I)

¹⁴ The military divisions of the camp of Judah’s descendants with their banner set out first, and Nahshon son of Amminadab^(J) was over their divisions. ¹⁵ Nethanel son of Zuar^(K) was over the division of the tribe of Issachar’s descendants, ¹⁶ and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun’s descendants. ¹⁷ The tabernacle was then taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting the tabernacle.

¹⁸ The military divisions of the camp of Reuben with their banner set out, and Elizur son of Shedeur was over their divisions. ¹⁹ Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai^(L) was over the division of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants, ²⁰ and Eliasaph son of Deuel^[a] was over the division of the tribe of Gad’s descendants. ²¹ The Kohathites then set out, transporting the holy objects;^(M) the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival.

²² Next the military divisions of the camp of Ephraim’s descendants with their banner set out, and Elishama son of Ammihud^(N) was over their divisions. ²³ Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh’s descendants, ²⁴ and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants.

²⁵ The military divisions of the camp of Dan’s descendants with their banner set out, serving as rear guard for all the camps, and Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai^(O) was over their divisions. ²⁶ Pagiel son of Ochran was over the division of the tribe of Asher’s descendants, ²⁷ and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants. ²⁸ This was the order of march for the Israelites by their military divisions as they set out.

²⁹ Moses said to Hobab, descendant of Reuel^(P) the Midianite and Moses’s relative by marriage, “We’re setting out for the place the Lord promised, ‘I will give it to you.’^(Q) Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”^(R)

³⁰ But he replied to him, “I don’t want to go. Instead, I will go to my own land and my relatives.”

³¹ “Please don’t leave us,” Moses said, “since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes. ³² If you come with us, whatever good the Lord does for us we will do for you.”^(S)

³³ They set out from the mountain of the Lord on a three-day journey with the ark of the Lord’s covenant traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.^{(T) 34} Meanwhile, the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵ Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say:

³⁶ When it came to rest, he would say: