Numbers 6
1 Yahweh also said this to Moses/me:
Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
2 “Tell this to the Israeli people: ‘If any of you [wants to] make a solemn promise to dedicate himself to belong to me in a special way, [after you obey these instructions], you will be called a Nazir-man, [which means “dedicated man”].
“Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'When a man or a woman separates himself to Yahweh with a special vow of a Nazirite,
3 You must not drink any wine or other alcoholic/fermented drink. You must not drink any vinegar made from wine or from any other alcoholic/fermented drink. You must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins.
he must keep himself from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from strong drink. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.
4 You must not eat anything that comes from grapevines, not even the skins or seeds of grapes, during the time that you are a Nazir-man.
In all the days that he is separate to me, he must eat nothing that is made from grapes, including everything made from the seeds to their skins.
5 ‘Even your hair will be dedicated to me during the time that you area Nazir-man, so you must never allow anyone to cut your hair. Until the time that your solemn promise to dedicate yourself to me is ended, you must allow your hair to grow long.
During all the time of his vow of separation, no razor is to be used on his head until the days of his separation to Yahweh are fulfilled. He must be set apart to Yahweh. He must let the hair grow long on his head.
6 And you must not go near a corpse during the time that you are a Nazir-man.
During all the time that he separates himself to Yahweh, he must not come near a dead body.
7 Even if the person who died is your father or your mother or your brother or your sister, you must not cause yourself to become unacceptable to me [by coming close to the corpse]. Your long hair [MTY] shows that you belong to me in a special way, so you must not cut your hair.
He must not make himself unclean even for his father, mother, brother, or sister, if they die. This is because he is separated to God, as everyone can see by his long hair.
8 You are required to keep doing this all the time that you are dedicated to me in this special way.
During all the time of his separation he is holy, reserved for Yahweh.
9 ‘If anyone dies very suddenly when he is near you, then your hair that you have dedicated to me is no longer sacred. So you must wait seven days and then shave it all off. Then you must perform a special ritual to cause yourself to become acceptable to me again.
If someone very suddenly dies beside him and defiles his consecrated head, then he must shave his head on the day of his purification—on the seventh day he must shave it.
10 The next day you must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Sacred Tent.
On the eighth day he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
11 ‘The priest must [kill the birds and] offer them as sacrifices. One of them will be an offering to enable me to forgive you for the sins you have committed, and the other will be an offering that is burned completely to please me. [After the priest burns them on the altar], I will forgive you for having come close to a corpse, and [when] your hair [grows again it] will be dedicated to me again.
The priest must offer one bird as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. These will atone for him because he sinned by being near the dead body. He must consecrate his head again on that day.
12 The amount of time that you were set apart for me the previous time does not count, because you had become unacceptable to me [by coming close to a corpse] during the time that you were a Nazir-man. So you must again make a solemn promise to dedicate yourself to me for the entire amount of time that you indicated the previous time. And you must also sacrifice a one-year-old lamb for not doing what you were required to do.
He must set himself apart to Yahweh for the days of his consecration. He must bring a male lamb one year old as a guilt offering. The days before he defiled himself must not be counted, because his consecration was defiled.
13 ‘When the time that you promised to dedicate yourself to me is ended, go to the entrance of the Sacred Tent
This is the law about the Nazirite for when the time of his separation is complete. He must be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting.
14 and offer as sacrifices to me three animals that have no defects: Offer a one-year-old ram that will be burned completely, a one-year-old female lamb as a sacrifice to enable me to forgive your sins, and one full-grown ram as a sacrifice to maintain fellowship with me.
He must present his offering to Yahweh. He must offer as a burnt offering a male lamb one year old and without blemish. He must bring as a sin offering a female lamb one year old and without blemish. He must bring a ram as a fellowship offering that is without blemish.
15 ‘When you bring those animals, you must also bring some wine to offer as a sacrifice. And you must also bring a basket of bread that you have made with very good flour and [olive] oil. But you must not put any yeast in the bread. Also brush/spread some [olive] oil on some thin wafers and bring them to the priest.
He must also bring a basket of bread made without yeast, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, wafers without yeast rubbed with oil, together with their grain offering and drink offerings.
16 ‘The priest will put the young lamb and the young ram on the altar and completely burn them, in order that I will be pleased and will forgive you for your sins.
The priest must present them before Yahweh. He must offer his sin offering and burnt offering.
17 Then he will kill the full-grown ram as an offering to restore fellowship with me, and he will also burn on the altar some of the bread and the grain and wine.
With the basket of unleavened bread, he must present the ram as a sacrifice, the fellowship offering to Yahweh. The priest must present also the grain offering and the drink offering.
18 ‘After that, you must [stand at] the entrance of the Sacred Tent and shave off your hair. Then you must put that hair in the fire that is under the [animal that has been sacrificed] on the altar to maintain fellowship with me.
The Nazirite must shave his head indicating his separation to God at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He must take the hair from his head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of fellowship offerings.
19 ‘The meat from the ram’s shoulder must be boiled. After it is cooked, the priest will take it along with one of the loaves of bread and one wafer which has been brushed with [olive] oil, and he will put them in your hands.
The priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one loaf of bread without yeast out of the basket, and one wafer without yeast. He must place them into the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his head indicating separation.
20 Then the priest will [take them back and] lift them up high to dedicate them to me. They now belong to the priest, and he is permitted to eat some of the meat from the ram’s shoulder and from its ribs and from one of its thighs, because that meat is his share of the sacrifice. After that, you will no longer be a Nazir-man, and you will again be permitted to drink wine.
The priest must wave them as an offering before Yahweh, a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented for the priest. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 ‘Those are the regulations about the offerings that Nazir-men solemnly promise to bring to me to end their time of being dedicated to me. They must bring these offerings, but if they want to, they may bring additional offerings. And they must do everything that they solemnly promised to do when they dedicated themselves to me.’”
This is the law for the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh for his separation. Whatever else he may give, he must keep the obligations of the vow he has taken, to keep the promise indicated by the law for the Nazirite.'”
22 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
23 “Tell Aaron and his sons that when they [ask me to] bless the people, they must say,
“Speak to Aaron and to his sons. Say, 'You must bless the people of Israel in this way. You must say to them,
24 ‘I desire that Yahweh will bless you and protect you,
“May Yahweh bless you and keep you.
25 and that he will smile at you and act kindly toward you,
May Yahweh make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
26 and that he will be good to you [IDM] and cause things to go well for you.’”
May Yahweh look on you with favor and give you peace.”'
27 Then Yahweh said, “If Aaron and his sons ask me to bless the Israeli people, truly I will bless them.”
It is in this way that they must give my name to the people of Israel. Then I will bless them.”
