1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:6.2 to separate…: or, to make themselves Nazarites 3He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. 4All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.6.4 separation: or, Nazariteship6.4 vine…: Heb. vine of the wine 5All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. 7He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.6.7 consecration: Heb. separation 8All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD. 9And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. 10And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 11And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. 12And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.6.12 be lost: Heb. fall
13¶ And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 14And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, 15And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. 16And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: 17And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering. 18And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. 19And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven: 20And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine. 21This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.
22¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 24The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: 25The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 27And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
Becoming a Nazirite
1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Say to the Israelites, ‘Suppose a man or woman wants to make a special promise. They want to set themselves apart to the Lord for a certain period of time. They want to be Nazirites. 3Then they must not drink any kind of wine. They must not drink vinegar made out of wine of any kind. They must not drink grape juice. They must not eat grapes or raisins. 4As long as they are Nazirites, they must not eat anything grapevines produce. They must not even eat the seeds or skins of grapes.
5“ ‘They must not use razors on their heads. They must not cut their hair during the whole time they have set themselves apart to the Lord. They must be holy until that time is over. They must let the hair on their heads grow long.
6“ ‘And they must not go near a dead body during that whole time. 7But what if their father or mother dies? Or what if their brother or sister dies? Then they must not make themselves “unclean” because of them. The hair on their heads shows they are set apart for God. 8During the whole time they are set apart they are holy to the Lord.
9“ ‘Suppose someone dies suddenly in front of them. That makes the hair they have set apart to the Lord “unclean.” So they must shave their heads on the day they will be made “clean.” That is the seventh day. 10Then on the eighth day they must bring two doves. Or they can bring two young pigeons. They must bring them to the priest. He will be at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 11The priest must offer one of the birds as a sin offering. And he must offer the other as a burnt offering. The sacrifices will pay for the sin of the Nazirite man or woman. They sinned by being near a dead body. That same day they must make their heads holy again. 12They must set themselves apart to the Lord again. They must do it for the same period of time they had agreed to at first. And they must bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering. The days before that do not count. That is because they became “unclean” during the time they were set apart.
13“ ‘The time when the Nazirites are set apart will come to an end. Here is the law that applies to them at that time. They must be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting. 14There they must present their offerings to the Lord. They must bring a male lamb a year old. It must not have any flaws. It is for a burnt offering. Then they must bring a female lamb a year old. It must not have any flaws. It is for a sin offering. And they must bring a ram that does not have any flaws. It is for a friendship offering. 15They must sacrifice the offerings together with their grain offerings and drink offerings. And they must also bring a basket of bread made with the finest flour. The bread must be made without yeast. The offering must include thick loaves with olive oil mixed in. And it must also include thin loaves brushed with olive oil.
16“ ‘The priest must bring all these things to the Lord. He must sacrifice the sin offering and the burnt offering. 17He must bring the basket of bread made without yeast. And he must sacrifice the ram. It will be a friendship offering to the Lord. The priest must bring it together with its grain offering and drink offering.
18“ ‘Then the Nazirites must shave off the hair that shows they have set themselves apart to the Lord. They must do it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. And they must put the hair in the fire that burns the sacrifice of the friendship offering.
19“ ‘After the Nazirites have shaved off their hair, the priest must take a boiled shoulder of the ram. He must remove one thick loaf and one thin loaf from the basket. They must be made without yeast. And he must place the shoulder and the bread in the hands of the Nazirites. 20Then he must lift up the shoulder and bread and wave them in front of the Lord. They are a wave offering. They are holy and belong to the priest. Other parts of the ram belong to the priest as well. They are the breast that was waved and the thigh that was offered. After the offering is waved, the Nazirites may drink wine.
21“ ‘This is the law of the Nazirites. They promise to sacrifice offerings to the Lord. They do it when they set themselves apart. And they should bring anything else they can afford. They must fulfill the promises they have made. They must do so according to the law of the Nazirites.’ ”
How the Priests Bless the People
22The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 23“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘Here is how I want you to bless the Israelites. Say to them,
24“ ‘ “May the Lord bless you
and take good care of you.
25May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
26May the Lord look on you with favor
and give you peace.” ’
27“In that way they will put the blessing of my name on the Israelites. And I will bless them.”
