Numbers 6

New American Standard Bible

Law of the Nazirites

6 Again the Lord 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, namely, the vow of ^(A)a ^[b]Nazirite, to live as a Nazirite for the Lord, ³he shall ^(B)abstain from wine and ^[c]strong drink; he shall ^[d]consume no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. ⁴All the days of his consecration he shall not eat anything that is produced from the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

⁵‘All the days of his vow of consecration ^(C)no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled which he lives as a Nazirite for the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

⁶‘^(D)All the days of his life as a Nazirite for the Lord he shall not come up to a dead person. ⁷He ^(E)shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his consecration to God is ^[e]on his head. ⁸All the days of his consecration he is holy to the Lord.

⁹‘But if someone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head of hair, then ^(F)he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; ^(G)he shall shave it on the seventh day. ¹⁰Then on the eighth day he shall bring ^(H)two turtledoves or two young doves to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹¹And the priest shall offer ^(I)one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him ^[f]regarding his sin because of the dead person. And on that same day he shall consecrate his head, ¹²and shall live his days of consecration as a Nazirite for the Lord, and shall bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the preceding days will ^[g]not count, because his consecration was defiled.

¹³‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite ^(J)when the days of his consecration are fulfilled: he shall bring ^[h]his offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹⁴And he shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect as a burnt offering, one ^(K)ewe lamb a year old without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as a peace offering, ¹⁵and a basket of ^(L)unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with ^(M)their grain offering and their drink offering. ¹⁶Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷He shall also offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. ¹⁸^(N)The Nazirite shall then shave his consecrated head of hair at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and take the consecrated hair of his head 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 loaf from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the ^[i]hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair. ²⁰Then the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered as a wave offering, and the thigh offered as ^[j]a contribution; and ^(P)afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

²¹“This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his consecration, in addition to what else ^[k]he can afford; corresponding to his vow which he makes, so he shall do according to the law of his consecration.”

Aaron’s Benediction

²²Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘In this way ^(Q)you shall bless the sons of Israel. You are to say to them:

²⁴The Lord ^(R)bless you, and ^[l]^(S)keep you;

²⁵The Lord ^(T)cause His face to shine on you,
And ^(U)be gracious to you;

²⁶The Lord ^(V)lift up His face to you,
And ^(W)give you peace.’

²⁷So they shall ^[m]^(X)invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and then I will bless them.”

Footnotes

Numbers 6:2 Or an extraordinary
Numbers 6:2 I.e., one consecrated to God
Numbers 6:3 I.e., other alcoholic drink
Numbers 6:3 Lit drink
Numbers 6:7 I.e., referring either to the visibility of the long hair, or to the consequences of violating the vow
Numbers 6:11 Lit because of that which he sinned
Numbers 6:12 Lit fall
Numbers 6:13 Lit it
Numbers 6:19 Lit palms
Numbers 6:20 Or an uplifted offering
Numbers 6:21 Lit his hand reaches
Numbers 6:24 Or watch over; or take care of
Numbers 6:27 Lit put

Psalm 40-41

New American Standard Bible

God Sustains His Servant.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

40 I ^(A)waited ^[a]patiently for the Lord;
And He reached down to me and ^(B)heard my cry.
²He brought me up out of the ^(C)pit of ^[b]destruction, out of the mud;
And ^(D)He set my feet on a rock, ^(E)making my footsteps firm.
³He put a ^(F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will ^(G)see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.

⁴How ^(H)blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And ^(I)has not turned to the ^[c]proud, nor to those who ^(J)become involved in falsehood.
⁵Many, Lord my God, are ^(K)the wonders which You have done,
And Your ^(L)thoughts toward us;
There is no one to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They ^(M)would be too numerous to count.

⁶^(N)You have not desired ^[d]sacrifice and meal offering;
You have ^[e]opened my ears;
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
⁷Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
It is ^[f]written of me in the scroll of the book.
⁸^(O)I delight to do Your will, my God;
^(P)Your Law is within my ^[g]heart.”

⁹I have ^(Q)proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will ^(R)not restrain my lips,
Lord, ^(S)You know.
¹⁰I have ^(T)not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have ^(U)spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.

¹¹You, Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
^[h]Your ^(V)mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.
¹²For evils beyond number have ^(W)surrounded me;
My ^(X)guilty deeds have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are ^(Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my ^(Z)heart has ^[i]failed me.

¹³^(AA)Be pleased, Lord, to rescue me;
^(AB)Hurry, Lord, to help me.
¹⁴May those be ^(AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who ^(AD)seek my ^[j]life to destroy it;
May those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight ^[k]in my hurt.
¹⁵May those ^(AE)be ^[l]appalled because of their shame
Who ^(AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
¹⁶^(AG)May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
May those who love Your salvation continually ^(AH)say,
“The Lord be exalted!”
¹⁷But ^(AI)I am afflicted and needy;
^(AJ)May the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my savior;
Do not delay, my God.

The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

41 Blessed is one who ^(AK)considers the ^[m]helpless;
The Lord will save him ^(AL)on a day of ^[n]trouble.
²The Lord will ^(AM)protect him and keep him alive,
And he will be called ^[o]^(AN)blessed upon the earth;
And ^(AO)do not turn him over to the desire of his enemies.
³The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You ^[p]restore him to health.

⁴As for me, I said, “Lord, be gracious to me;
^(AP)Heal my soul, for ^(AQ)I have sinned against You.”
⁵My enemies ^(AR)speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶And ^[q]when he comes to see me, he ^(AS)speaks ^[r]empty words;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
⁷All who hate me whisper together against me;
They ^(AT)plot my harm against me, saying,
⁸“A wicked thing is poured out ^[s]upon him,
So that when he lies down, he will ^(AU)not get up again.”
⁹Even my ^[t]^(AV)close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰But You, Lord, be gracious to me and ^(AW)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
¹¹By this I know that ^(AX)You are pleased with me,
Because ^(AY)my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
¹²As for me, ^(AZ)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You place me ^(BA)in Your presence forever.