Numbers 6

The Nazirite Vow

6:1¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 6:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When either a man or a woman² takes a special vow,³ to take a vow⁴ as a Nazirite,⁵ to separate⁶ himself to the Lord, 6:3 he must separate⁷ himself from wine and strong drink, he must drink neither vinegar⁸ made from wine nor vinegar made from strong drink, nor may he drink any juice⁹ of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.¹⁰ 6:4 All the days of his separation he must not eat anything that is produced by the grapevine, from seed¹¹ to skin.¹²

6:5 “‘All the days of the vow¹³ of his separation no razor may be used on his head¹⁴ until the time¹⁵ is fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord. He will be holy,¹⁶ and he must let¹⁷ the locks of hair on his head grow long.

6:6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact¹⁸ a dead body.¹⁹ 6:7 He must not defile himself even²⁰ for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die,²¹ because the separation²² for²³ his God is on his head. 6:8 All the days of his separation he must be holy to the Lord.

Contingencies for Defilement

6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly²⁴ beside him and he defiles²⁵ his consecrated head,²⁶ then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it. 6:10 On the eighth day he is to bring²⁷ two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6:11 Then the priest will offer one for a purification offering²⁸ and the other²⁹ as a burnt offering,³⁰ and make atonement³¹ for him, because of his transgression³² in regard to the corpse. So he must reconsecrate³³ his head on that day. 6:12 He must rededicate³⁴ to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a reparation offering,³⁵ but the former days will not be counted³⁶ because his separation³⁷ was defiled.

Fulfilling the Vows

6:13 “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he must be brought³⁸ to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 6:14 and he must present his offering³⁹ to the Lord: one male lamb in its first year without blemish for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish for a purification offering, one ram without blemish for a peace offering,⁴⁰ 6:15 and a basket of bread made without yeast, cakes of fine flour mixed with olive oil, wafers made without yeast and smeared with olive oil, and their⁴¹ grain offering and their drink offerings.⁴²

6:16 “‘Then the priest must present all these⁴³ before the Lord and offer⁴⁴ his purification offering and his burnt offering. 6:17 Then he must offer the ram as a peace offering⁴⁵ to the Lord, with the basket of bread made without yeast; the priest must also offer his grain offering and his drink offering.

6:18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head⁴⁶ at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire⁴⁷ where the peace offering is burning.⁴⁸ 6:19 And the priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one cake made without yeast from the basket, and one wafer made without yeast, and put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head;⁴⁹ 6:20 then the priest must wave them as a wave offering⁵⁰ before the Lord; it is a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the raised offering.⁵¹ After this the Nazirite may drink⁵² wine.’

6:21 “This is the law⁵³ of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord his offering according to his separation, as well as whatever else he can provide.⁵⁴ Thus he must fulfill⁵⁵ his vow that he makes, according to the law of his separation.”

The Priestly Benediction

6:22⁵⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses: 6:23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way⁵⁷ you are to bless⁵⁸ the Israelites. Say⁵⁹ to them:

6:24 “The Lord bless you⁶⁰ and protect⁶¹ you;

6:25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you,

and be gracious to you;⁶²

6:26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you⁶³

and give you peace.”’

6:27 So they will put my name⁶⁴ on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

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