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
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
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