Numbers 6
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The Nazirite Vow
6 The Lord instructed Moses, 2 ‘Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man or woman makes a special vow, a Nazirite vow,(A) to consecrate himself to the Lord, 3 he is to abstain from wine and beer.(B) He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from beer. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4 He is not to eat anything produced by the grapevine, from seeds to skin, during the period of his consecration.
5 ‘You must not cut his hair[a] throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He may be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long. 6 He must not go near a dead body during the time he consecrates himself to the Lord.(C) 7 He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, while the mark of consecration to his God is on his head. 8 He is holy to the Lord(D) during the time of consecration.
9 ‘If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day.(E) 10 On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.(F) 11 The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering(G) to make atonement on behalf of the Nazirite, since he incurred guilt because of the corpse. On that day he is to consecrate his head again.(H) 12 He is to rededicate his time of consecration to the Lord and to bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering.(I) But do not count the initial period of consecration because it became defiled.
13 ‘This is the law of the Nazirite: on the day his time of consecration is completed, he is to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.(J) 14 He is to present an offering to the Lord(K) of one unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, one unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, one unblemished ram as a fellowship offering,(L) 15 along with their grain offerings and drink offerings,(M) and a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil.(N)
16 ‘The priest is to present these before the Lord and sacrifice the Nazirite’s sin offering and burnt offering. 17 He will also offer the ram as a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest 11will offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.
18 ‘The Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair from his head, and put it on the fire under the fellowship sacrifice. 19 The priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands(O) of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head. 20 The priest is to present them as a presentation offering before the Lord.(P) It is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution.(Q) After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 ‘These are the instructions about the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord for his consecration,(R) in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfil whatever vow he makes in keeping with the instructions for his consecration.’
The Priestly Blessing
22 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 ‘Tell Aaron and his sons, “This is how you are to bless the Israelites. You should say to them,
24 ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you;(S)
25 may the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;(T)
26 may the Lord look with favour on you[b]
and give you peace.’ ”(U)
27 In this way they will pronounce my name over[c] the Israelites, and I will bless them.’
Numbers 6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 6
Laws Concerning Nazirites. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When men or women solemnly take the nazirite[a] vow to dedicate themselves to the Lord, 3 they shall abstain from wine and strong drink;(A) they may neither drink wine vinegar, other vinegar, or any kind of grape juice, nor eat either fresh or dried grapes. 4 As long as they are nazirites they shall not eat anything of the produce of the grapevine; not even the seeds or the skins. 5 While they are under the nazirite vow, no razor shall touch their hair.(B) Until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over, they shall be holy, letting the hair of their heads grow freely. 6 As long as they are dedicated to the Lord, they shall not come near a dead person.(C) 7 Not even for their father or mother, sister or brother, should they defile themselves, when these die, since their heads bear their dedication to God. 8 As long as they are nazirites they are holy to the Lord.
9 If someone dies very suddenly in their presence, defiling their dedicated heads, they shall shave their heads on the day of their purification, that is, on the seventh day. 10 On the eighth day they shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 11 The priest shall offer up the one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, thus making atonement for them for the sin they committed with respect to the corpse. On the same day they shall reconsecrate their heads 12 and rededicate themselves to the Lord for the period of their dedication, bringing a yearling lamb as a reparation offering. The previous period is not valid, because they defiled their dedicated heads.
13 This is the ritual for the nazirites:(D) When the period of their dedication is complete they shall go to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 bringing their offerings to the Lord, one unblemished yearling lamb for a burnt offering, one unblemished yearling ewe lamb for a purification offering, one unblemished ram as a communion offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened cakes of bran flour mixed with oil and of unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offerings and libations. 16 The priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall offer up the purification offering and the burnt offering for them. 17 He shall then offer up the ram as a communion sacrifice to the Lord, along with the basket of unleavened cakes, and the priest will offer the grain offering and libation. 18 Then at the entrance of the tent of meeting the nazirite shall shave his or her dedicated head, take the hair of the dedicated head, and put it in the fire under the communion sacrifice. 19 After the nazirite has shaved off the dedicated hair, the priest shall take a boiled shoulder of the ram, as well as one unleavened cake from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them in the hands of the nazirite. 20 The priest shall then elevate them as an elevated offering before the Lord. They are an offering belonging to the priest, along with the brisket of the elevated offering and the leg of the contribution. Only after this may the nazirite drink wine.
21 This, then, is the law for the nazirites, that is, what they vow as their offering to the Lord in accord with their dedication, apart from anything else which their means may allow. In keeping with the vow they take so shall they do, according to the law of their dedication.
The Priestly Blessing. 22 The Lord said to Moses: 23 Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you!
25 The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
26 The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace![b]
27 So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.
Footnotes
- 6:2–21 Nazirite: from the Hebrew word nazir, meaning “set apart as sacred, dedicated, vowed.” The nazirite vow could be either for a limited period or for life. Those bound by this vow had to abstain from all the products of the grapevine, from cutting or shaving their hair, and from contact with a corpse. They were regarded as men and women of God like the prophets; cf. Am 2:11–12. Examples of lifelong nazirites were Samson (Jgs 13:4–5, 7; 16:17), Samuel (1 Sm 1:11), and John the Baptist (Lk 1:15). At the time of Jesus the practice of taking the nazirite vow for a limited period seems to have been quite common, even among the early Christians; cf. Acts 18:18; 21:23–24, 26.
- 6:26 Peace: the Hebrew word Shalom includes the idea of happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship, and general well-being. To use this term as a greeting was to pray for all these things upon the one greeted.
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