Chapter 6

Law of the Nazirites

1 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a 1special vow, the vow of aa 2Nazirite, to 3dedicate himself to the Lord,

3 he shall aabstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes.

4 ‘All the days of his 1separation he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

5 ‘All the days of his vow of separation ano razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

6 ‘aAll the days of his separation to the Lord he shall not go near to a dead person.

7 ‘He ashall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head.

8 ‘All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

9 ‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his dedicated head of hair, then ahe shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; bhe shall shave it on the seventh day.

10 ‘Then on the eighth day he shall bring atwo turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting.

11 ‘The priest shall offer aone for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him 1concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall consecrate his head,

12 and shall dedicate to the Lord his days 1as a 2Nazirite, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his separation was defiled.

13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite awhen the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall bring 1the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting.

14 ‘He shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering and one aewe-lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering and one ram without defect for a peace offering,

15 and a basket of aunleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with btheir grain offering and their drink offering.

16 ‘Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering.

17 ‘He shall also offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall likewise offer its grain offering and its drink offering.

18 ‘aThe Nazirite shall then shave his dedicated head of hair at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and take the dedicated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings.

19 ‘aThe priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the 1hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his 2dedicated hair.

20 ‘Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by lifting up; and aafterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his separation, in addition to what else 1he can afford; according to his vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the law of his separation.”

Aaron’s Benediction

22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus ayou shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

24 The Lord abless you, and bkeep you;

25 The Lord amake His face shine on you,

And bbe gracious to you;

26 The Lord alift up His countenance on you,

And bgive you peace.’

27 “So they shall 1ainvoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”