Numbers 6

A Vow Set Apart

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When a woman or a man makes a special vow—the vow of a Nazirite—to set themselves apart for the LORD,

3they shall abstain from wine and strong drink; they shall drink neither wine vinegar nor strong drink vinegar, and shall not drink any grape juice or eat fresh or dried grapes. 4All the days of their separation they shall not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, from the seeds to the skin.

5All the days of the vow of their separation, no razor shall pass over their head; until the time is completed for which they have set themselves apart for the LORD, they shall be holy, letting the hair of their head grow freely.

6All the days that they are set apart for the LORD, they shall not go near a dead body. 7Even for father or mother, for brother or sister, they shall not make themselves unclean when they die, because the separation to God is upon their head.

8All the days of their separation, they are holy to the LORD.

When the Vow Is Broken

9If someone dies suddenly beside them, defiling the head of their separation, they shall shave their head on the day of their cleansing; on the seventh day they shall shave it.

10On the eighth day they shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

11The priest shall offer one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for them, because they sinned by contact with the dead body. That same day they shall consecrate their head again.

12They shall separate themselves to the LORD for the days of their separation, and bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering. The previous days shall be void, because their separation was defiled.

Completing the Time of Separation

13This is the law for the Nazirite: when the time of their separation has been completed, they shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting.

14They shall present their offering to the LORD: one male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a purification offering, and one ram without blemish as a well-being offering, 15along with a basket of unleavened bread—cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil—and their grain offering and their drink offerings.

16The priest shall present them before the LORD and offer their purification offering and their burnt offering, 17and shall offer the ram as a well-being offering to the LORD, together with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall also offer the grain offering and the drink offering.

18Then the Nazirite shall shave the head of their separation at the entrance of the tent of meeting, take the hair from the head of their separation, and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of well-being.

19The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and place them in the hands of the Nazirite after the hair of their separation has been shaved.

20The priest shall elevate them as an offering before the LORD. They are holy for the priest, together with the breast that is elevated and the thigh that is raised. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

21This is the law of the Nazirite who makes a vow—of their offering to the LORD for their separation—apart from what else their means may afford. According to the vow that they make, so they shall do, in keeping with the law of their separation.

The Blessing of the LORD

22The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 23Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: Thus you shall bless the Israelites; you shall say to them:

24The LORD bless you and keep you;

25the LORD make the LORD’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

26the LORD lift up the LORD’s face toward you and give you peace.

27So they shall put my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.