Numbers 6
English Standard Version
The Nazirite Vow
6 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of (A)a Nazirite,[a] (B)to separate himself to the Lord, 3 he (C)shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation[b] he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5 “All the days of his vow of separation, no (D)razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. (E)He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.
6 “All the days that he separates himself to the Lord (F)he shall not go near a dead body. 7 (G)Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.
9 “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then (H)he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 (I)On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day 12 and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old (J)for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13 “And this is the law for the Nazirite, (K)when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish (L)as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish (M)as a peace offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, (N)loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their (O)grain offering and their (P)drink offerings. 16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer (Q)his sin offering and his burnt offering, 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 And the Nazirite (R)shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19 And the priest shall take the (S)shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and (T)shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, 20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. (U)They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 “This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.”
Aaron's Blessing
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus (V)you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24 The Lord (W)bless you and (X)keep you;
25 the Lord (Y)make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord (Z)lift up his countenance[c] upon you and give you peace.
27 (AA)“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 6:2 Nazirite means one separated, or one consecrated
- Numbers 6:4 Or Naziriteship
- Numbers 6:26 Or face
Numbers 6
International Standard Version
Nazirites
6 Then the Lord told Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelis that a man or woman who commits to the vow of the Nazirite, is to be separated to the Lord, 3 then is to remain separate from wine and strong drink. He is not to drink vinegar or strong drink made from wine. He is not to drink grape juice or eat grapes, whether fresh or dried. 4 During the entire time of his dedication, he is not to eat any product from the grapevine, from the seed to the skin. 5 During the entire time of his dedication, he is not to allow a razor to pass over his head until the days of his holy consecration to the Lord have been fulfilled. He is to let the locks on his head grow long.
6 “During the entire time of his dedication, he is not to come near a dead body.[a] 7 He is not to defile himself on account of his father, mother, brother, and sister when they die, because the crown of his consecration to God is on his head. 8 During the entire time of his dedication, he is set apart to God. 9 When someone suddenly dies beside him, so that his consecrated head is defiled, then he is to shave his head on the day of his purification. Seven days later he is to shave it again. 10 On the eighth day, he is to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 11 Then the priest is to offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to make atonement for him because of the guilt he incurred on account of his contact with the dead body. Then he is to consecrate his head on that day. 12 He is to dedicate to the Lord the days of his consecration by bringing a year old male lamb as his offering. The previous time will have failed because his consecration became defiled.
13 “This is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his consecration are completed, he is to come to the entrance at the Tent of Meeting. 14 He is to bring an offering to the Lord, a year old male lamb, and a year old ewe female lamb, both without blemish, for a sin offering and a ram without blemish for a peace offering, 15 a basket of unleavened bread made[b] from choice flour, cakes mixed with oil, a wafer of unleavened bread smeared with oil, along with grain and drink offerings. 16 The priest is to come into the Lord’s presence and present his sin and burnt offerings. 17 He is to offer the ram, a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, along with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest is to present his grain and drink offerings. 18 The Nazirite is then to shave his head of consecration at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to take the lock of his head of consecration and set it over the fire where the peace offering for sacrifice is. 19 Then the priest is to take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one cake of unleavened bread from the basket, and one wafer of unleavened bread. He is to place them in the hands of the Nazirite, after he himself has shaved his symbol of consecration. 20 The priest is to wave the offerings, that is, the breast and the thigh offering in the Lord’s presence. Then the Nazirite may drink wine afterward. 21 This is to be the law of the Nazirite when he commits his offering to the Lord on account of his consecration, over and beyond what he owns alone plus whatever he can provide,[c] based on the vow from his own mouth that he vows to fulfill on account of the law of his consecration.”
On Blessing the Israelis
22 Later, the Lord told Moses, 23 “Teach Aaron and his sons to bless the Israelis:
24 May the Lord bless you
and guard you.
25 May the Lord’s face enlighten you
and bestow favor on you.
26 May the Lord turn to face you,
lavishing peace on you!
27 They are to pour out my name to the Israelis while I continue to bless them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 6:6 Lit. soul
- Numbers 6:15 The Heb. lacks made
- Numbers 6:21 Lit. his hand can reach
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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