Numbers 6

King James Version

6 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord:

³He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.

⁴All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

⁵All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

⁶All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body.

⁷He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.

⁸All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.

⁹And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.

¹⁰And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

¹¹And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.

¹²And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

¹³And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

¹⁴And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

¹⁵And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.

¹⁶And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:

¹⁷And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.

¹⁸And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.

¹⁹And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:

²⁰And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.

²¹This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.

²²And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²³Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

²⁴The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

²⁵The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

²⁶The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

²⁷And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

Numbers 6

Expanded Bible

Rules for the Nazirites

6 The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the Lord ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel]: ‘If men or women want to ·promise [make a special vow] to ·belong to the Lord in a special way [separate themselves to the Lord], they will be called Nazirites [^Cpeople especially set apart in devotion to God; Samson and Samuel are examples]. ³During this time, they must not drink wine or ·beer [^Tstrong drink; ^Can alcoholic beverage made from grain], or vinegar made from wine or ·beer [^Tstrong drink]. They must not even drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. ⁴While they are Nazirites, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, even the seeds or the skin.

⁵“‘During the time they have ·promised [vowed] to ·belong to the [separate themselves to the] Lord, they must not cut their hair [^Cavoiding contact with dead matter]. They must be holy until this special time is over. They must let their hair grow long. ⁶During ·their special time of belonging [the time of their vow] to the Lord, Nazirites must not go near a dead body. ⁷Even if their own father, mother, brother, or sister dies, they must not ·touch them, or they will become unclean [^Ldefile themselves; ^Cin a ritual sense]. ·They must still keep their promise to belong to God in a special way [^LThe consecration/separation to God is on their head]. ⁸While they are Nazirites, they ·belong to the Lord in a special way [^Lare holy to the Lord].

⁹“‘If they are next to someone who dies suddenly, their hair, which was ·part of their promise [consecrated], has been ·made unclean [defiled; ^Cin a ritual sense]. So they must shave their head seven days later to be clean. ¹⁰Then on the eighth day, they must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ¹¹The priest will offer one as a ·sin [or purification; Lev. 4:3] offering and the other as a burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17]. This ·removes sin so they will belong to the Lord [makes atonement for them]. (They had sinned because they were near a dead body.) That same day they ·will again promise to let their hair grow [^Lsanctify/consecrate the head] ¹²and ·give themselves [separate themselves] to the Lord for ·another special time [^Ltheir time as Nazirites]. They must bring a male lamb a year old as a ·penalty [guilt; reparation; Lev. 5:14—6:9] offering. The days of the special time before don’t count, because ·they became unclean during their first special time [^Lthe consecrated/sanctified head became defiled].

¹³“‘This is the ·teaching [instruction; law] for the Nazirites. When the ·promised time [time of their consecration] is over, they must go to the entrance of the Meeting Tent ¹⁴and give their offerings to the Lord. They must offer a year-old male lamb that ·has nothing wrong with it [is unblemished], as a burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17], a year-old female lamb that ·has nothing wrong with it [is unblemished], as a ·sin [or purification; Lev. 4:3] offering, and a ·male sheep [ram] that ·has nothing wrong with it [is unblemished], for a ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offering [Lev. 3:1]. ¹⁵They must also bring the ·grain [^Lgift; tribute] offerings [Lev. 2:1] and drink offerings that go with them. And they must bring a basket of bread made without ·yeast [leaven], loaves made with ·fine [choice] flour mixed with oil, and wafers made without ·yeast [leaven] spread with oil.

¹⁶“‘The priest will give these offerings to the Lord and make the ·sin [or purification; Lev. 4:3] offering and the burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17]. ¹⁷Then he will ·kill [^Loffer] the ·male sheep [ram] as a ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offering [Lev. 3:1] to the Lord; along with it, he will present the basket of bread made without yeast [leaven], the ·grain [^Lgift; tribute] offering [Lev. 2:1], and the drink offering.

¹⁸“‘The Nazirites must go to the entrance of the Meeting Tent and shave ·off their hair that they grew for their promise [^Ltheir consecrated head]. The hair will be put in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offering [Lev. 3:1].

¹⁹“‘After the Nazirites ·cut off their hair [^Lshave their consecrated head], the priest will give them a boiled shoulder from the ·male sheep [ram]. From the basket he will also give a loaf and a wafer, both made without ·yeast [leaven]. ²⁰Then the priest will ·present [elevate] them to the Lord. They are ·holy and belong to [a holy portion for] the priest. Also, he is to ·present [elevate] the breast and the thigh from the ·male sheep [ram]. After that, the Nazirites may drink wine.

²¹“‘This is the ·teaching [instruction; law] for the Nazirites who ·make a promise [take a vow]. Everyone who makes the Nazirite ·promise [vow] must give all of these gifts to the Lord. If they promised to do more, they must keep their ·promise [vow], according to the ·teaching [instruction; law] of the Nazirites.’”

The Priests’ Blessings

²²The Lord said to Moses, ²³“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you should bless the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel]. Say to them:

²⁴“May the Lord bless you and ·keep [guard] you.
²⁵May the Lord ·show you his kindness [^Lmake his face shine upon you]
and ·have mercy on [be gracious to] you.
²⁶May the Lord ·watch over [^Llift his face/presence/countenance upon] you
and give you peace.”’

²⁷“So Aaron and his sons will ·bless the Israelites with my name [^Lput my name upon the sons/^Tchildren of Israel], and I will bless them.”

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, ³then 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. ⁴During the entire time of his dedication, he is not to eat any product from the grapevine, from the seed to the skin. ⁵During 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] ⁷He 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. ⁸During the entire time of his dedication, he is set apart to God. ⁹When 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. ¹⁰On the eighth day, he is to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹¹Then 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. ¹²He 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. ¹⁴He 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, ¹⁵a 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. ¹⁶The priest is to come into the Lord’s presence and present his sin and burnt offerings. ¹⁷He 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. ¹⁸The 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. ¹⁹Then 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. ²⁰The 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. ²¹This 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

²²Later, the Lord told Moses, ²³“Teach Aaron and his sons to bless the Israelis:

²⁴May the Lord bless you
    and guard you.
²⁵May the Lord’s face enlighten you
    and bestow favor on you.
²⁶May the Lord turn to face you,
    lavishing peace on you!

²⁷They 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

Numbers 6

New King James Version

The Law of the Nazirite

6 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When either a man or woman ^[a]consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, ^(A)to separate himself to the Lord, ³^(B)he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴All the days of his ^[b]separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.

⁵‘All the days of the vow of his separation no ^(C)razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. ⁶All the days that he separates himself to the Lord ^(D)he shall not go near a dead body. ⁷^(E)He shall not ^[c]make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. ⁸^(F)All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the Lord.

⁹‘And if anyone dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall ^(G)shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. ¹⁰Then ^(H)on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting; ¹¹and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned in regard to the corpse; and he shall sanctify his head that same day. ¹²He shall consecrate to the Lord the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb in its first year ^(I)as a trespass offering; but the former days shall be ^[d]lost, because his separation was defiled.

¹³‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: ^(J)When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ¹⁴And he shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish ^(K)as a sin offering, one ram without blemish ^(L)as a peace offering, ¹⁵a basket of unleavened bread, ^(M)cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers ^(N)anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their ^(O)drink offerings.

¹⁶‘Then the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering; ¹⁷and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. ¹⁸^(P)Then the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.

¹⁹‘And the priest shall take the ^(Q)boiled shoulder of the ram, one ^(R)unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and ^(S)put them upon the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair, ²⁰and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord; ^(T)they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.’

²¹“This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord the offering for his separation, and besides that, whatever else his hand is able to provide; according to the vow which he takes, so he must do according to the law of his separation.”

The Priestly Blessing

²²And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²³“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:

²⁴“The Lord ^(U)bless you and ^(V)keep you;
²⁵The Lord ^(W)make His face shine upon you,
And ^(X)be gracious to you;
²⁶^(Y)The Lord ^[e]lift up His countenance upon you,
And ^(Z)give you peace.” ’

²⁷^(AA)“So they shall ^[f]put My name on the children of Israel, and ^(AB)I will bless them.”

Footnotes

Numbers 6:2 Or makes a difficult vow
Numbers 6:4 Separation as a Nazirite
Numbers 6:7 By touching a dead body
Numbers 6:12 void
Numbers 6:26 Look upon you with favor
Numbers 6:27 invoke

Numbers 6

New International Version

The Nazirite

6 The Lord said to Moses, ²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow^(A), a vow of dedication^(B) to the Lord as a Nazirite,^(C) ³they must abstain from wine^(D) and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar^(E) made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes^(F) or raisins. ⁴As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

⁵“‘During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor^(G) may be used on their head.^(H) They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long.

⁶“‘Throughout the period of their dedication to the Lord, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body.^(I) ⁷Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean^(J) on account of them, because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head. ⁸Throughout the period of their dedication, they are consecrated to the Lord.

⁹“‘If someone dies suddenly in the Nazirite’s presence, thus defiling the hair that symbolizes their dedication,^(K) they must shave their head on the seventh day—the day of their cleansing.^(L) ¹⁰Then on the eighth day^(M) they must bring two doves or two young pigeons^(N) to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.^(O) ¹¹The priest is to offer one as a sin offering^[a]^(P) and the other as a burnt offering^(Q) to make atonement^(R) for the Nazirite because they sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. That same day they are to consecrate their head again. ¹²They must rededicate themselves to the Lord for the same period of dedication and must bring a year-old male lamb^(S) as a guilt offering.^(T) The previous days do not count, because they became defiled during their period of dedication.

¹³“‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the period of their dedication is over.^(U) They are to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.^(V) ¹⁴There they are to present their offerings to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect^(W) for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering,^(X) a ram^(Y) without defect for a fellowship offering,^(Z) ¹⁵together with their grain offerings^(AA) and drink offerings,^(AB) and a basket of bread made with the finest flour and without yeast—thick loaves with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves brushed with olive oil.^(AC)

¹⁶“‘The priest is to present all these^(AD) before the Lord^(AE) and make the sin offering and the burnt offering.^(AF) ¹⁷He is to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering^(AG) to the Lord, together with its grain offering^(AH) and drink offering.^(AI)

¹⁸“‘Then at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that symbolizes their dedication.^(AJ) They are to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.

¹⁹“‘After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair that symbolizes their dedication, the priest is to place in their hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and one thick loaf and one thin loaf from the basket, both made without yeast.^(AK) ²⁰The priest shall then wave these before the Lord as a wave offering;^(AL) they are holy^(AM) and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented.^(AN) After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.^(AO)

²¹“‘This is the law of the Nazirite^(AP) who vows offerings to the Lord in accordance with their dedication, in addition to whatever else they can afford. They must fulfill the vows^(AQ) they have made, according to the law of the Nazirite.’”

The Priestly Blessing

²²The Lord said to Moses, ²³“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless^(AR) the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁴“‘“The Lord bless you^(AS)
    and keep you;^(AT)
²⁵the Lord make his face shine on you^(AU)
    and be gracious to you;^(AV)
²⁶the Lord turn his face^(AW) toward you
    and give you peace.^(AX)”’

²⁷“So they will put my name^(AY) on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Footnotes

Numbers 6:11 Or purification offering; also in verses 14 and 16

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

Expanded Bible (EXB)

International Standard Version (ISV)

New King James Version (NKJV)

New International Version (NIV)

Numbers 6

King James Version