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)