Numbers 6
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 6
Nazirite Laws.[a] 1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘If a man or a woman dedicates himself or herself with a vow, a Nazirite vow to dedicate himself or herself unto the Lord, 3 that person will abstain from wine and strong drink. He will not drink any vinegar made from wine or from strong drink, nor will he drink any grape juice, nor will he eat grapes or raisins. 4 He is not to eat anything that comes from the vine, not even the seeds or the skins as long as he is a Nazirite. 5 No razor will touch his head all throughout the time of his vow. He is to be holy until the days of his vow have been completed. He will let the hair on his head grow long. 6 He is not to approach any dead body during the entire period of his vow to the Lord. 7 He is not to make himself unclean even for his father or mother if they were to die, nor his brother or sister, for the consecration of God is upon his head. 8 He is to be holy to the Lord all the days of his vow.
9 “ ‘But if someone were to die suddenly in his presence and defile his consecrated head, he is to shave his head on the day of his cleansing and he will shave it again on the seventh day. 10 Then on the eighth day he will bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 11 The priest will offer one of them as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering making atonement for the uncleanness caused by the dead person. On that same day he is to consecrate his head[b] 12 and he will dedicate his days of consecration unto the Lord. He will bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The days that preceded this incident will not count, however, for his dedicated head had been defiled.
13 “ ‘This is the law concerning Nazirites when the time of their dedication is completed. He is to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting. 14 He will bring a year-old male lamb without defect unto the Lord as a burnt offering, and a one-year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, and a one-year-old ram without defect as a peace offering 15 and a basket of unleavened bread made from fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers of bread with oil spread on them, and a cereal offering, and a drink offering. 16 The priest will bring them before the Lord and he will offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17 He will offer the ram as the sacrifice of a peace offering unto the Lord together with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest will also offer the cereal offering and the drink offering. 18 The Nazirite will shave his head at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He will take the hair that grew during the period when he was vowed and put it on the fire under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19 The priest will take a shoulder of the ram that has been boiled, and an unleavened cake out of the basket, and an unleavened wafer, and he will put them into the hands of the Nazirite who has shaved off the hair of his vow. 20 The priest will wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy and will belong to the priest, along with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was presented. After this the Nazirite can drink wine. 21 This is the law of the Nazirite who has vowed his offering unto the Lord for his consecration (apart from what else he can afford). He must fulfill what he has vowed to do by the Nazirite law.’ ”
22 The Priests’ Blessing.[c] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is how you will bless the people of Israel, saying to them,
24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you.
25 The Lord shine his face upon you and be gracious to you.
26 The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace.” ’[d]
27 They will invoke my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 6:1 A Nazirite is a person consecrated to God by a vow. Samson was one (Jdg 13:5), as was the prophet Samuel (1 Sam 1:11); in the New Testament, perhaps John the Baptist (Lk 1:15) and Jesus himself (Mt 2:23) were Nazirites.
This state as a consecrated person is often mentioned in the Bible, but it underwent an evolution: initially it was regarded as a permanent gift but in the period in which the Book of Numbers was edited, it had become a temporary choice (see Acts 18:18; 21:23f, 26). - Numbers 6:11 The guilt here is purely legal.
- Numbers 6:22 Invoke my name upon the people of Israel means to make God benevolently present among the people. It is understandable that this text should have been adopted in the recent liturgical reform as an (optional) amplification of the blessing that the priest gives when he dismisses the people at the end of the Mass.
- Numbers 6:26 Give you peace: the Hebrew word is shalom and expresses a state of unanimity that can only be found through the Lord.
Numbers 6
English Standard Version
The Nazirite Vow
6 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of (A)a Nazirite,[a] (B)to separate himself to the Lord, 3 he (C)shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation[b] he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5 “All the days of his vow of separation, no (D)razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. (E)He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.
6 “All the days that he separates himself to the Lord (F)he shall not go near a dead body. 7 (G)Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.
9 “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then (H)he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 (I)On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day 12 and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old (J)for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13 “And this is the law for the Nazirite, (K)when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish (L)as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish (M)as a peace offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, (N)loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their (O)grain offering and their (P)drink offerings. 16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer (Q)his sin offering and his burnt offering, 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 And the Nazirite (R)shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19 And the priest shall take the (S)shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and (T)shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, 20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. (U)They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 “This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.”
Aaron's Blessing
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus (V)you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24 The Lord (W)bless you and (X)keep you;
25 the Lord (Y)make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord (Z)lift up his countenance[c] upon you and give you peace.
27 (AA)“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 6:2 Nazirite means one separated, or one consecrated
- Numbers 6:4 Or Naziriteship
- Numbers 6:26 Or face
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
