Numbers 6:1-12
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)
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