Numbers 6:1-21
Legacy Standard Bible
The Nazirite Vow
6 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a [a]special vow, the vow of (A)a [b]Nazirite, to dedicate himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh, 3 he shall (B)abstain as a Nazirite from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. 4 All the days of his [c]Nazirite vow he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.
5 ‘All the days of his vow as a Nazirite (C)no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he dedicated himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.
6 ‘(D)All the days of his dedication as a Nazirite to Yahweh he shall not go near to a dead person. 7 He (E)shall not defile himself for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because the Nazirite vow to his God is on his head. 8 All the days of his Nazirite vow he is holy to Yahweh.
9 ‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles the head of hair during his Nazirite vow, then (F)he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; (G)he shall shave it on the seventh day. 10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring (H)two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 11 And the priest shall offer (I)one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering and make atonement for him [d]concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall set apart his head as holy, 12 and shall dedicate to Yahweh the days of his [e]Nazirite vow and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his Nazirite vow was defiled.
13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite (J)when the days of his Nazirite vow are fulfilled: he shall bring [f]the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 14 And he shall bring his offering near to Yahweh: one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering and one (K)ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering and one ram without blemish for a peace offering, 15 and a basket of (L)unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with (M)their grain offering and their drink offering. 16 Then the priest shall bring them near before Yahweh and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17 He shall also offer with the ram a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall likewise offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 (N)The Nazirite shall then shave the head of hair for his Nazirite vow at the doorway of the tent of meeting and take the hair of his head of his Nazirite vow and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19 (O)And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the [g]hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the hair of his Nazirite vow. 20 Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by [h]raising up; and (P)afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’
21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh according to his Nazirite vow, in addition to what else [i]he can afford; according to his vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the law of his Nazirite vow.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 6:2 Or difficult
- Numbers 6:2 Lit one separated
- Numbers 6:4 Or living as a Nazirite, so through v 21
- Numbers 6:11 Lit because of that which he sinned
- Numbers 6:12 Lit one separated
- Numbers 6:13 Lit it
- Numbers 6:19 Lit palms
- Numbers 6:20 Or heaving up
- Numbers 6:21 Lit his hand can reach
Numbers 6:1-21
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Nazirite Vow
6 The Lord told Moses to speak to the Israelites and tell them these things:
2 When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite,[a] to separate oneself to the Lord, 3 he is to abstain from wine and beer.[b] He may not drink vinegar made from wine or beer. He may not drink any grape juice. He may not eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4 During his entire separation, he is not to eat anything at all that comes from the grapevine, from the seeds to the skins.
5 During his entire vow of separation no razor is to pass over his head, until the time that he has separated himself to the Lord has been completed. He will be set apart as holy. He is to let the hair of his head grow long.
6 During the entire time that he separates himself to the Lord he may not go near a dead body. 7 He may not defile himself even for his father or his mother or for his brother or his sister when they die, because his sign of separation for God is on his head. 8 During the entire time of his separation he is set apart as holy to the Lord.
9 If someone near him dies suddenly, thereby defiling the head of hair that marks his separation, he is to shave his head on the day when he is purified. On the seventh day he is to shave it. 10 On the eighth day he will bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 11 The priest will offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. He will make atonement for him, because he sinned on account of the dead body. On that same day, he is to consecrate his head. 12 He will establish a new time of separation to the Lord. He will bring a year-old male lamb as a restitution offering. His previous time of separation will not count, because his separation was defiled.
13 This is the law for the Nazirite when the time of his separation is over: He is to be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 14 He will bring this as his offering to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect as a whole burnt offering, a year-old female lamb without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as a fellowship offering,[c] 15 a basket of unleavened round loaves made with fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers coated with oil, along with the specified grain offerings and drink offerings. 16 The priest will bring them before the Lord and will offer the Nazirite’s sin offering and burnt offering. 17 The priest will offer the ram as the sacrifice for the fellowship offering to the Lord, along with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest will also offer the specified grain offering and drink offering.
18 The Nazirite is to shave the hair on his head, that marks his separation at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to take the hair from his head, that marks his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice for the fellowship offering. 19 The priest will take the boiled shoulder from the ram and one unleavened round loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the palms of the Nazirite after he has shaved the head that marks his separation. 20 The priest will wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. This is the holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is elevated.[d] After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 This is the law for the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford. Just as he has made this vow, so he must carry it out according to the law governing his separation.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 6:2 That is, a vow of separation or abstaining
- Numbers 6:3 The Israelites had two classes of alcoholic beverages: wine made from grapes and grain-based beverages that were similar to modern beer, but which were often supplemented with fruit to promote fermentation.
- Numbers 6:14 Traditionally peace offering
- Numbers 6:20 The terms wave offering and elevated offering refer to the gestures with which they were usually presented. The name does not mean that every item offered was literally elevated or waved.
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