Numbers 6

Law of the Nazirites

1Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes 1a special vow, namely, the vow of 2a 3Nazirite, to live as a Nazirite for the Lord, 3he shall 4abstain from wine and 5strong drink; he shall 6consume no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. 4All the days of his consecration he shall not eat anything that is produced from the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

5‘All the days of his vow of consecration 7no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled which he lives as a Nazirite for the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

6‘8All the days of his life as a Nazirite for the Lord he shall not come up to a dead person. 7He 9shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his consecration to God is 10on his head. 8All the days of his consecration he is holy to the Lord.

9‘But if someone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head of hair, then 11he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; 12he shall shave it on the seventh day. 10Then on the eighth day he shall bring 13two turtledoves or two young doves to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 11And the priest shall offer 14one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him 15regarding his sin because of the dead person. And on that same day he shall consecrate his head, 12and shall live his days of consecration as a Nazirite for the Lord, and shall bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the preceding days will 16not count, because his consecration was defiled.

13‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite 17when the days of his consecration are fulfilled: he shall bring 18his offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 14And he shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect as a burnt offering, one 19ewe lamb a year old without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as a peace offering, 15and a basket of 20unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with 21their grain offering and their drink offering. 16Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17He shall also offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 1822The Nazirite shall then shave his consecrated head of hair at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and take the consecrated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 1923And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened loaf from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the 24hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair. 20Then the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered as a wave offering, and the thigh offered as 25a contribution; and 26afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

21“This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his consecration, in addition to what else 27he can afford; corresponding to his vow which he makes, so he shall do according to the law of his consecration.”

Aaron’s Benediction

22Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘In this way 28you shall bless the sons of Israel. You are to say to them:

24The Lord 29bless you, and 3031keep you;

25The Lord 32cause His face to shine on you, And 33be gracious to you;

26The Lord 34lift up His face to you, And 35give you peace.’ 27So they shall 3637invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and then I will bless them.”