Law of the Nazirites

Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a [a]special vow, the vow of (A)a [b]Nazirite, to [c]dedicate himself to the Lord, he shall (B)abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. All the days of his [d]separation he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

‘All the days of his vow of separation (C)no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

(D)All the days of his separation to the Lord he shall not go near to a dead person. 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 separation to God is on his head. All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his dedicated 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 pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 11 The priest shall offer (I)one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him [e]concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall consecrate his head, 12 and shall dedicate to the Lord his days [f]as a [g]Nazirite, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his separation was defiled.

13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite (J)when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall bring [h]the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 14 He shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering and one (K)ewe-lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering and one ram without defect for a peace offering, 15 and a basket of (L)unleavened cakes 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 shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17 He shall also offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall likewise offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 (N)The Nazirite shall then shave his dedicated head of hair at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and take the dedicated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19 (O)The priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the [i]hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his [j]dedicated hair. 20 Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by lifting up; 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 separation, in addition to what else [k]he can afford; according to his vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the law of his separation.”

Aaron’s Benediction

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

24 The Lord (R)bless you, and (S)keep you;

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

26 The Lord (V)lift up His countenance on you,
And (W)give you peace.’

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

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 6:2 Or difficult
  2. Numbers 6:2 I.e. one separated
  3. Numbers 6:2 Or live as a Nazirite
  4. Numbers 6:4 Or living as a Nazirite, and so through v 21
  5. Numbers 6:11 Lit because of that which he sinned
  6. Numbers 6:12 Or of dedication
  7. Numbers 6:12 I.e. one separated
  8. Numbers 6:13 Lit it
  9. Numbers 6:19 Lit palms
  10. Numbers 6:19 Or separated
  11. Numbers 6:21 Lit his hand can reach
  12. Numbers 6:27 Lit put

The Nazirite Vow

Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a [a]special vow, the vow of (A)a [b]Nazirite, to dedicate himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh, he shall (B)abstain as a Nazirite from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. All the days of his [c]Nazirite vow he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

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

(D)All the days of his dedication as a Nazirite to Yahweh he shall not go near to a dead person. He (E)shall not defile himself for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because the Nazirite vow to his God is on his head. All the days of his Nazirite vow he is holy to Yahweh.

‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles the head of hair during his Nazirite vow, 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 pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 11 And the priest shall offer (I)one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering and make atonement for him [d]concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall set apart his head as holy, 12 and shall dedicate to Yahweh the days of his [e]Nazirite vow and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his Nazirite vow was defiled.

13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite (J)when the days of his Nazirite vow are fulfilled: he shall bring [f]the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 14 And he shall bring his offering near to Yahweh: one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering and one (K)ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering and one ram without blemish for a peace offering, 15 and a basket of (L)unleavened cakes 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 bring them near before Yahweh and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17 He shall also offer with the ram a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall likewise offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 (N)The Nazirite shall then shave the head of hair for his Nazirite vow at the doorway of the tent of meeting and take the hair of his head of his Nazirite vow 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 cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the [g]hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the hair of his Nazirite vow. 20 Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by [h]raising up; and (P)afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh according to his Nazirite vow, in addition to what else [i]he can afford; according to his vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the law of his Nazirite vow.”

Yahweh Blesses the Sons of Israel

22 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus (Q)you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

24 Yahweh (R)bless you, and (S)keep you;

25 Yahweh (T)make His face shine on you,
And (U)be gracious to you;

26 Yahweh (V)lift up His [j]face on you,
And (W)give you peace.’

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

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 6:2 Or difficult
  2. Numbers 6:2 Lit one separated
  3. Numbers 6:4 Or living as a Nazirite, so through v 21
  4. Numbers 6:11 Lit because of that which he sinned
  5. Numbers 6:12 Lit one separated
  6. Numbers 6:13 Lit it
  7. Numbers 6:19 Lit palms
  8. Numbers 6:20 Or heaving up
  9. Numbers 6:21 Lit his hand can reach
  10. Numbers 6:26 Or countenance
  11. Numbers 6:27 Lit put

Law of the Nazirites

Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “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, 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. 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.

‘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.

(D)All the days of his life as a Nazirite for the Lord he shall not come up to a dead person. 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. All the days of his consecration he is holy to the Lord.

‘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:

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

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

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

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

Footnotes

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