Numbers 6-8

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. ⁴ All 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. ⁶ All 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. ¹⁰ Then ^(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; ¹¹ and 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. ¹² He 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. ¹⁴ And 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, ¹⁵ a 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; ¹⁷ and 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, ²⁰ and 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

²² And 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:

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

Offerings of the Leaders

7 Now it came to pass, when Moses had finished ^(AC)setting up the tabernacle, that he ^(AD)anointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings, and the altar and all its utensils; so he anointed them and consecrated them. ² Then ^(AE)the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, who were the leaders of the tribes ^[g]and over those who were numbered, made an offering. ³ And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; and they presented them before the tabernacle.

⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵ “Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the work of the tabernacle of meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.” ⁶ So Moses took the carts and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. ⁷ Two carts and four oxen ^(AF)he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service; ^8 (AG)and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the ^[h]authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ⁹ But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because theirs was ^(AH)the service of the holy things, ^(AI)which they carried on their shoulders.

¹⁰ Now the leaders offered ^(AJ)the dedication offering for the altar when it was anointed; so the leaders offered their offering before the altar. ¹¹ For the Lord said to Moses, “They shall offer their offering, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”

¹² And the one who offered his offering on the first day was ^(AK)Nahshon the son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah. ¹³ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to ^(AL)the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a ^(AM)grain offering; ¹⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^(AN)incense; ^15 (AO)one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb ^(AP)in its first year, as a burnt offering; ¹⁶ one kid of the goats as a ^(AQ)sin offering; ¹⁷ and for ^(AR)the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering. ¹⁹ For his offering he offered one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ²⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ²¹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ²² one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ²³ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

²⁴ On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, leader of the children of Zebulun, presented an offering. ²⁵ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ²⁶ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ²⁷ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ²⁸ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ²⁹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

³⁰ On the fourth day ^(AS)Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the children of Reuben, presented an offering. ³¹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ³² one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ³³ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ³⁴ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ³⁵ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

³⁶ On the fifth day ^(AT)Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the children of Simeon, presented an offering. ³⁷ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ³⁸ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ³⁹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁴⁰ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁴¹ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² On the sixth day ^(AU)Eliasaph the son of ^[i]Deuel, leader of the children of Gad, presented an offering. ⁴³ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁴⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁴⁵ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as ^(AV)a burnt offering; ⁴⁶ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁴⁷ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day ^(AW)Elishama the son of Ammihud, leader of the children of Ephraim, presented an offering. ⁴⁹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁵⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁵¹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁵² one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁵³ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day ^(AX)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the children of Manasseh, presented an offering. ⁵⁵ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁵⁶ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁵⁷ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁵⁸ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁵⁹ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day ^(AY)Abidan the son of Gideoni, leader of the children of Benjamin, presented an offering. ⁶¹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁶² one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁶³ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁶⁴ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁶⁵ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day ^(AZ)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, leader of the children of Dan, presented an offering. ⁶⁷ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁶⁸ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁶⁹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁷⁰ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁷¹ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day ^(BA)Pagiel the son of Ocran, leader of the children of Asher, presented an offering. ⁷³ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁷⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁷⁵ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁷⁶ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁷⁷ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day ^(BB)Ahira the son of Enan, leader of the children of Naphtali, presented an offering. ⁷⁹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁸⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁸¹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁸² one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁸³ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

⁸⁴ This was ^(BC)the dedication offering for the altar from the leaders of Israel, when it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold pans. ⁸⁵ Each silver platter weighed one hundred and thirty shekels and each bowl seventy shekels. All the silver of the vessels weighed two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁸⁶ The twelve gold pans full of incense weighed ten shekels apiece, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the pans weighed one hundred and twenty shekels. ⁸⁷ All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve young bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs in their first year twelve, with their grain offering, and the kids of the goats as a sin offering twelve. ⁸⁸ And all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, and the lambs in their first year sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was ^(BD)anointed.

⁸⁹ Now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting ^(BE)to speak with Him, he heard ^(BF)the voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from ^(BG)between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.

Arrangement of the Lamps^(BH)

8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you ^(BI)arrange the lamps, the seven ^(BJ)lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.’ ” ³ And Aaron did so; he arranged the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. ^4 (BK)Now this workmanship of the lampstand was hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was ^(BL)hammered work. ^(BM)According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Cleansing and Dedication of the Levites

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ⁶ “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them ceremonially. ⁷ Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle ^(BN)water of purification on them, and ^(BO)let^[j] them shave all their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. ⁸ Then let them take a young bull with ^(BP)its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull as a sin offering. ^9 (BQ)And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of meeting, ^(BR)and you shall gather together the whole congregation of the children of Israel. ¹⁰ So you shall bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel ^(BS)shall lay their hands on the Levites; ¹¹ and Aaron shall ^[k]offer the Levites before the Lord like a ^(BT)wave offering from the children of Israel, that they may perform the work of the Lord. ^12 (BU)Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls, and you shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.

¹³ “And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Thus you shall ^(BV)separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be ^(BW)Mine. ¹⁵ After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and ^(BX)offer them like a wave offering. ¹⁶ For they are ^(BY)wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself ^(BZ)instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel. ^17 (CA)For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I ^[l]sanctified them to Myself. ¹⁸ I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel. ¹⁹ And ^(CB)I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, ^(CC)that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

²⁰ Thus Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. ^21 (CD)And the Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ^22 (CE)After that the Levites went in to do their work in the tabernacle of meeting before Aaron and his sons; ^(CF)as the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “This is what pertains to the Levites: ^(CG)From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting; ²⁵ and at the age of fifty years they must cease performing this work, and shall work no more. ²⁶ They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting, ^(CH)to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall do to the Levites regarding their duties.”