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.
The Benediction
22 The Lord told Moses 23 to speak to Aaron and to his sons and to tell them to bless the Israelites with these words:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you.
25 The Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you.
26 The Lord look on you with favor[e]
and give you peace.
27 In this way they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.
Footnotes
- 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.
- Numbers 6:26 Literally lift up his face toward you