Numbers 6
Holman Christian Standard Bible
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[a] the Lord, 3 he is to abstain[b] 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,[c] during his vow.
5 “You must not cut his hair[d] throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He must 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, because the hair consecrated 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 of hair, 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 sinned because of the corpse. On that day he must consecrate[e] 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 restitution offering.(I) But do not count the previous period, because his consecrated hair became defiled.
13 “This is the law of the Nazirite: On the day his time of consecration is completed, he must 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 wave 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 “This is the ritual of 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 ritual for his consecration.”
The Priestly Blessing
22 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 May Yahweh bless you and protect you;(S)
25 may Yahweh make His face shine on you
and be gracious to you;(T)
26 may Yahweh look with favor on you[f]
and give you peace.[g](U)
27 In this way they will pronounce My name over[h] the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 6:2 Or vow, to live as a Nazirite for
- Numbers 6:3 In Hb, the words Nazirite, consecrate, and abstain are related and involve the idea of separation.
- Numbers 6:4 Or from unripe grapes to hulls
- Numbers 6:5 Lit A razor is not to pass over his head
- Numbers 6:11 Lit set apart
- Numbers 6:26 Lit Lord lift His face to you
- Numbers 6:26 Or prosperity
- Numbers 6:27 Or put My name on
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, 3 he 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. 4 All 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. 7 He (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. 8 All 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. 10 Then 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. 11 And 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, 12 and 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. 14 And 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, 15 and 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. 16 Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17 He 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. 20 Then 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
22 Then 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:
27 So 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
Numbers 6
The Message
Nazirite Vows
6 1-4 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel; tell them, If any of you, man or woman, wants to make a special Nazirite vow, consecrating yourself totally to God, you must not drink any wine or beer, no intoxicating drink of any kind, not even the juice of grapes—in fact, you must not even eat grapes or raisins. For the duration of the consecration, nothing from the grapevine—not even the seeds, not even the skin—may be eaten.
5 “Also, for the duration of the consecration you must not have your hair cut. Your long hair will be a continuing sign of holy separation to God.
6-7 “Also, for the duration of the consecration to God, you must not go near a corpse. Even if it’s the body of your father or mother, brother or sister, you must not ritually defile yourself because the sign of consecration to God is on your head.
8 “For the entire duration of your consecration you are holy to God.
9-12 “If someone should die suddenly in your presence, so that your consecrated head is ritually defiled, you must shave your head on the day of your purifying, that is, the seventh day. Then on the eighth day bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priest will offer one for the Absolution-Offering and one for the Whole-Burnt-Offering, purifying you from the ritual contamination of the corpse. You resanctify your hair on that day and reconsecrate your Nazirite consecration to God by bringing a yearling lamb for a Compensation-Offering. You start over; the previous days don’t count because your consecration was ritually defiled.
13-17 “These are the instructions for the time set when your special consecration to God is up. First, you are to be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then you will present your offerings to God: a healthy yearling lamb for the Whole-Burnt-Offering, a healthy yearling ewe for an Absolution-Offering, a healthy ram for a Peace-Offering, a basket of unraised bread made of fine flour, loaves mixed with oil, and crackers spread with oil, along with your Grain-Offerings and Drink-Offerings. The priest will approach God and offer up your Absolution-Offering and Whole-Burnt-Offering. He will sacrifice the ram as a Peace-Offering to God with the basket of unraised bread, and, last of all, the Grain-Offering and Drink-Offering.
18 “At the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, shave off the hair you consecrated and put it in the fire that is burning under the Peace-Offering.
19-20 “After you have shaved the hair of your consecration, the priest will take a shoulder from the ram, boiled, and a piece of unraised bread and a cracker from the basket and place them in your hands. The priest will then wave them before God, a Wave-Offering. They are holy and belong to the priest, along with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was offered.
“Now you are free to drink wine.
21 “These are the instructions for Nazirites as they bring offerings to God in their vow of consecration, beyond their other offerings. They must carry out the vow they have vowed following the instructions for the Nazirite.”
The Aaronic Blessing
22-23 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons, This is how you are to bless the People of Israel. Say to them,
24 God bless you and keep you,
25 God smile on you and gift you,
26 God look you full in the face
and make you prosper.
27 In so doing, they will place my name on the People of Israel—
I will confirm it by blessing them.”
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson