Numbers 6–7

THE NAZIRITE VOW

6The Lord instructed Moses, ²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man or woman makes a special vow, a Nazirite vow,^c to consecrate himself to the Lord, ³he is to abstain from wine and beer.^d He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from beer. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴He is not to eat anything produced by the grapevine, from seeds to skin, during the period of his consecration.

⁵“You must not cut his hair^C throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He may be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long. ⁶He must not go near a dead body during the time he consecrates himself to the Lord.^{e 7}He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, while the mark of consecration to his God is on his head. ⁸He is holy to the Lord^f during the time of consecration.

⁹“If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day.^{g 10}On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.^{h 11}The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offeringⁱ to make atonement on behalf of the Nazirite, since he incurred guilt because of the corpse. On that day he is to consecrate his head again.^{a 12}He is to rededicate his time of consecration to the Lord and to bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering.^b But do not count the initial period of consecration because it became defiled.

¹³“This is the law of the Nazirite: On the day his time of consecration is completed, he is to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.^{c 14}He is to present an offering to the Lord^d of one unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, one unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, one unblemished ram as a fellowship offering,^{e 15}along with their grain offerings and drink offerings,^f and a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil.^g

¹⁶“The priest is to present these before the Lord and sacrifice the Nazirite’s sin offering and burnt offering. ¹⁷He will also offer the ram as a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest will offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.

¹⁸“The Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair from his head, and put it on the fire under the fellowship sacrifice. ¹⁹The priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands^h of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head. ²⁰The priest is to present them as a presentation offering before the Lord.ⁱ It is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution.^j After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹“These are the instructions about the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord for his consecration,^k in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes in keeping with the instructions for his consecration.”

THE PRIESTLY BLESSING

²²The Lord spoke to Moses: ²³“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. You should say to them,

²⁴“May the Lord bless you and protect you;^l

²⁵may the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;^m

²⁶may the Lord look with favor on you^A

and give you peace.” ’ⁿ

²⁷In this way they will pronounce my name over^B the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

OFFERINGS FROM THE LEADERS

7On the day Moses finished setting up the tabernacle,^o he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, along with the altar and all its utensils. After he anointed and consecrated these things, ²the leaders of Israel, the heads of their ancestral families,^C presented an offering. They were the tribal leaders who supervised the registration.^{p 3}They brought as their offering before the Lord six covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart from every two leaders and an ox from each one, and presented them in front of the tabernacle.

⁴The Lord said to Moses, ⁵“Accept these from them to be used in the work of the tent of meeting, and give this offering to the Levites, to each division according to their service.”

⁶So Moses took the carts and oxen and gave them to the Levites. ⁷He gave the Gershonites two carts and four oxen corresponding to their service,^{q 8}and gave the Merarites four carts and eight oxen corresponding to their service,^r under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. ⁹But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since their responsibility was service related to the holy objects^s carried on their shoulders.^t

¹⁰The leaders also presented the dedication gift for the altar when it was anointed.^u The leaders presented their offerings in front of the altar. ¹¹The Lord told Moses, “Each day have one leader present his offering for the dedication of the altar.”^v

¹²The one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab^w from the tribe of Judah. ¹³His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds and one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, measured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;^{x 14}one gold bowl weighing four ounces, full of incense; ¹⁵one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;^{a 16}one male goat for a sin offering;^{b 17}and two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice.^c This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.

¹⁸On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar,^d leader of Issachar, presented an offering. ¹⁹As his offering, he presented one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds and one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, measured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ²⁰one gold bowl weighing four ounces, full of incense; ²¹one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ²²one male goat for a sin offering; ²³and two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.

²⁴On the third day Eliab son of Helon,^e leader of the Zebulunites, presented an offering. ²⁵His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds and one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, measured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ²⁶one gold bowl weighing four ounces, full of incense; ²⁷one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ²⁸one male goat for a sin offering; ²⁹and two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.

³⁰On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur,^f leader of the Reubenites, presented an offering. ³¹His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds and one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, measured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ³²one gold bowl weighing four ounces, full of incense; ³³one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ³⁴one male goat for a sin offering; ³⁵and two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.

³⁶On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai,^g leader of the Simeonites, presented an offering. ³⁷His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds and one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, measured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ³⁸one gold bowl weighing four ounces, full of incense; ³⁹one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ⁴⁰one male goat for a sin offering; ⁴¹and two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

⁴²On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel,^Ah leader of the Gadites, presented an offering. ⁴³His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds and one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, measured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁴⁴one gold bowl weighing four ounces full of incense; ⁴⁵one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ⁴⁶one male goat for a sin offering; ⁴⁷and two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel.^A

⁴⁸On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud,ⁱ leader of the Ephraimites, presented an offering. ⁴⁹His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds and one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, measured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁵⁰one gold bowl weighing four ounces, full of incense; ⁵¹one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ⁵²one male goat for a sin offering; ⁵³and two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur,^a leader of the Manassites, presented an offering. ⁵⁵His offering was one silver dish weighing 3¼ pounds and one silver basin weighing 1¾ pounds, measured by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁵⁶…