Numbers 6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Nazirites
6 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When either men or women make a special vow, the vow of a nazirite, to separate themselves to the Lord,(A) 3 they shall separate themselves from wine and strong drink; they shall drink no wine vinegar or other vinegar and shall not drink any grape juice or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All their days as nazirites they shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5 “All the days of their nazirite vow no razor shall come upon the head; until the time is completed for which they separate themselves to the Lord, they shall be holy; they shall let the locks of the head grow long.(B)
6 “All the days that they separate themselves to the Lord they shall not go near a corpse.(C) 7 Even if their father or mother, brother or sister, should die, they may not defile themselves, because their consecration to God is upon the head. 8 All their days as nazirites they are holy to the Lord.
9 “If someone suddenly dies nearby, defiling the head of the nazirite, then they shall shave the head on the day of their cleansing; on the seventh day they shall shave it. 10 On the eighth day they shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting,(D) 11 and the priest shall offer one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering and make atonement for them, because they incurred guilt by reason of the corpse. They shall sanctify the head that same day 12 and separate themselves to the Lord for their days as nazirites and bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering. The former time shall be void because the nazarite was defiled.(E)
13 “This is the law for the nazirites when the time of their consecration has been completed: they shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting,(F) 14 and they shall offer their gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a purification offering, one ram without blemish as an offering of well-being,(G) 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of choice flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, with their grain offering and their drink offerings.(H) 16 The priest shall present them before the Lord and offer their purification offering and burnt offering 17 and offer the ram as a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest also shall make the accompanying grain offering and drink offering. 18 Then the nazirites shall shave the consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from the consecrated head and put it on the fire under the sacrifice of well-being.(I) 19 The priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer and shall put them in the palms of the nazirites, after they have shaved the consecrated head. 20 Then the priest shall elevate them as an elevation offering before the Lord; they are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is elevated and the thigh that is offered. After that the nazirites may drink wine.
21 “This is the law for the nazirites who take a vow. Their offering to the Lord must be in accordance with the nazirite vow, apart from what else they can afford. In accordance with whatever vow they take, so they shall do, following the law for their consecration.”
The Priestly Benediction
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them:(J)
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;(K)
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;(L)
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.(M)
27 “So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”(N)
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
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
