1The Lord said to Moses,2‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite,3they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins.4As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.5‘ “During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long.6‘ “Throughout the period of their dedication to the Lord, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body.7Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head.8Throughout the period of their dedication, they are consecrated to the Lord.9‘ “If someone dies suddenly in the Nazirite’s presence, thus defiling the hair that symbolises their dedication, they must shave their head on the seventh day – the day of their cleansing.10Then on the eighth day they must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.11The priest is to offer one as a sin offering[1] and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for the Nazirite because they sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. That same day they are to consecrate their head again.12They must rededicate themselves to the Lord for the same period of dedication and must bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The previous days do not count, because they became defiled during their period of dedication.13‘ “Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the period of their dedication is over. They are to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.14There they are to present their offerings to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, a ram without defect for a fellowship offering,15together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and a basket of bread made with the finest flour and without yeast – thick loaves with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves brushed with olive oil.16‘ “The priest is to present all these before the Lord and make the sin offering and the burnt offering.17He is to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering to the Lord, together with its grain offering and drink offering.18‘ “Then at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that symbolises their dedication. They are to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.19‘ “After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair that symbolises their dedication, the priest is to place in their hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and one thick loaf and one thin loaf from the basket, both made without yeast.20The priest shall then wave these before the Lord as a wave offering; they are holy and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.21‘ “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows offerings to the Lord in accordance with their dedication, in addition to whatever else they can afford. They must fulfil the vows they have made, according to the law of the Nazirite.” ’
The priestly blessing
22The Lord said to Moses,23‘Tell Aaron and his sons, “This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:24‘ “ ‘The Lord bless you and keep you;25the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;26the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.’ ”27‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’
Numbers 6
English Standard Version
The Nazirite Vow
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite,[1] to separate himself to the Lord, (Jud 13:5; Ac 21:23; Ro 1:1)3he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. (Am 2:12; Lu 1:15)4All the days of his separation[2] he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.5“All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long. (Jud 13:5; Jud 16:17; 1Sa 1:11; Eze 44:20; 1Co 11:14)6“All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body. (Le 21:11; Nu 19:11; Nu 19:16)7Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. (Le 21:1; Le 21:11)8All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.9“And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. (Ac 18:18; Ac 21:24)10On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, (Le 5:7; Le 14:22; Le 15:14; Le 15:29)11and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day12and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled. (Le 5:6)13“And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, (Ac 21:26)14and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering, (Le 3:6; Le 4:32)15and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings. (Ex 29:2; Ex 29:41; Le 2:4; Nu 15:5; Nu 15:7; Nu 15:10)16And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering, (Nu 6:14)17and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering.18And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. (Ac 18:18; Ac 21:24)19And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, (Ex 29:23; 1Sa 2:15)20and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine. (Ex 29:27; Nu 5:25)21“This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.”
Aaron’s Blessing
22The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,23“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, (Le 9:22; De 21:5; 1Ch 23:13)24The Lord bless you and keep you; (Ps 121:3; Ps 134:3)25the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; (Ps 31:16; Ps 67:1; Ps 80:3; Ps 80:7; Ps 80:19; Ps 119:135; Da 9:17)26the Lord lift up his countenance[3] upon you and give you peace. (Ps 4:6)27“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (De 28:10; 2Ch 7:14; Da 9:18)