Numbers 6

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

2 speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, Whatsoever man or woman shall specially vow a vow to separate oneself with purity to the Lord,

“Tell the Israelites: If a man or a woman makes a special promise to become a Nazirite, to dedicate themselves to the Lord,

3 he shall purely abstain from wine and strong drink; and he shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink; and whatever is made of the grape he shall not drink; neither shall he eat fresh grapes or raisins,

they must not drink any wine or other alcoholic drink. They must not even drink vinegar made from wine or other alcoholic drink, or any grape juice or eat grapes or raisins.

4 all the days of his vow: he shall eat no one of all the things that come from the vine, wine from the grape-stones to the husk,

The whole time they are dedicated to the Lord they must not eat anything from a grapevine, not even grape seeds or skins.

5 all the days of his separation: —a razor shall not come upon his head, until the days be fulfilled which he vowed to the Lord: he shall be holy, cherishing the long hair of the head,

They must not use a razor on their heads during the whole time of this promise of dedication. They must remain holy until their time of dedication to the Lord is finished. They must let their hair grow long.

6 all the days of his vow to the Lord: he shall not come near to any dead body,

During this time of dedication to the Lord they must not go near a dead body.

7 to his father or his mother, or to his brother or his sister; he shall not defile himself for them, when they have died, because the vow of God is upon him on his head.

Even if it's their father, mother, brother or sister who has died, they are not to make themselves unclean, because their uncut hair announces their dedication to God.

8 All the days of his vow he shall be holy to the Lord.

Through the whole time of their dedication they are to be holy to the Lord.

9 And if any one should die suddenly by him, immediately the head of his vow shall be defiled; and he shall shave his head in whatever day he shall be purified: on the seventh day he shall be shaved.

However, if someone dies suddenly close to them, making them unclean, they must wait seven days, and on the seventh day when they are made clean again they are to shave their heads.

10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the doors of the tabernacle of witness.

On the eighth day they shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

11 And the priest shall offer one for a sin-offering; and the other for a whole burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him in the things wherein he sinned respecting the dead body, and he shall sanctify his head in that day,

The priest will offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make them right, because they became guilty by being near the dead body. On that day they must re-dedicate themselves and let their hair grow again.

12 in which he was consecrated to the Lord, [all] the days of his vow; and he shall bring a lamb of a year old for a trespass-offering; and the former days shall not be reckoned, because the head of his vow was polluted.

They must re-dedicate themselves to the Lord for the full time they originally promised and bring a one-year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The previous days don't count towards the time of dedication because they became unclean.

13 And this is the law of him that has vowed: in whatever day he shall have fulfilled the days of his vow, he shall himself bring his gift to the doors of the tabernacle of witness.

These are the rules to be observed when the Nazirite's time of dedication is finished. They are to be taken to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

14 And he shall bring his gift to the Lord; one he-lamb of a year old without blemish for a whole burnt offering, and one ewe-lamb of a year old without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram without blemish for a peace-offering;

There they are to present an offering to the Lord of a one-year-old male lamb without defects as a burnt offering, a one-year-old female lamb without defects as a sin offering, and ram without defects as a peace offering.

15 and a basket of unleavened bread of fine flour, [even] loaves kneaded with oil, and unleavened cakes anointed with oil, and their meat-offering, and their drink-offering.

In addition they are to bring a basket of bread without yeast made from the best flour mixed with olive oil and wafers without yeast coated with olive oil as well as their grain offerings and drink offerings.

16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin-offering, and his whole burnt offering.

The priest will present all these before the Lord as well as sacrificing the sin offering and the burnt offering.

17 And he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace-offering to the Lord with the basket of unleavened bread; and the priest shall offer its meat-offering and its drink-offering.

He will also sacrifice a ram as a peace offering to the Lord, together with the basket of bread made without yeast. In addition the priest will present the grain offering and drink offering.

18 And he that has vowed shall shave the head of his consecration by the doors of the tabernacle of witness, and shall put the hairs on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace-offering.

Then the Nazirites are to shave their heads at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They shall take the hair from their heads that were dedicated, and place it on the fire under the peace offering.

19 And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened loaf from the basket, and one unleavened cake, and shall put them on the hands of the votary after he has shaved off his

Once the Nazirites have shaved, the priest will take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one bread without yeast from the basket, and one wafer without yeast, and place them in their hands.

20 And the priest shall present them as an offering before the Lord; it shall be the holy portion for the priest beside the breast of the heave-offering and beside the shoulder of the wave-offering: and afterwards the votary shall drink wine.

The priest will wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. These items are holy and belong to the priest, as well as the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was offered. Once this is finished, Nazirites may drink wine.

21 This is the law of the votary who shall have vowed to the Lord his gift to the Lord, concerning his vow, besides what he may be able to afford according to the value of his vow, which he may have vowed according to the law of separation.

These are the rules to be observed when a Nazirite promises to give offerings to the Lord regarding their dedication. They can also bring additional offerings if they can afford it. Every Nazirite must fulfill whatever promises they have made when they dedicated themselves.”

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

23 Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the children of Israel, saying to them,

“Tell Aaron and his sons: This is how you are to bless the Israelites. This is what they are to say:

24 The Lord bless you and keep you;

‘May the Lord bless you and take care of you.

25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and have mercy upon you;

May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.

26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

May the Lord watch over you and give you peace.’

27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I the Lord will bless them.

Whenever the priests bless the Israelites in my name, I will bless them.”