< Numbers 6 >

1 Yahweh also said this to Moses/me:
And the Lord spak to Moises and seide, Speke thou to the sones of Israel,
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”].
and thou schalt seie to hem, Whanne a man ether a womman makith auow, that thei be halewid, and thei wolen halewe hem silf to the Lord,
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.
thei schulen absteyne fro wyn and fro al thing that may make drunkun; thei schulen not drynke vynegre of wyn, and of ony other drynkyng, and what euer thing is pressid out of the grape; thei schulen not ete freisch grapis and drie,
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.
alle dayes in whiche thei ben halewid bi a vow to the Lord; thei schulen not ete what euer thing may be of the vyner, fro a grape dried `til to the draf.
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.
In al tyme of his departyng a rasour schal not passe on his heed, `til to the day fillid in which he is halewid to the Lord; he schal be hooli while the heer of his heed `schal wexe.
6 And you must not go near a corpse during the time that you are a Nazir-man.
In al the tyme of his halewing he schal not entre on a deed bodi,
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.
and sotheli he schal not be defoulid on the deed bodi of fadir and of moder, of brothir and of sistir, for the halewyng of his God is on his heed;
8 You are required to keep doing this all the time that you are dedicated to me in this special way.
ech dai of his departyng schal be hooli to the Lord.
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.
But if ony man is deed sudeynly bifore hym, the heed of his halewyng schal be defoulid, which he schal schaue anoon in the same dai of his clensyng, and eft in the seuenthe dai;
10 The next day you must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Sacred Tent.
forsothe in the eiyte dai he schal offre twei turtlis, ether twei `briddis of a culuer, to the preest, in the entryng of the boond of pees of witnessyng.
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.
And the preest schal make oon for synne, and the tothir in to brent sacrifice; and the preest schal preie for hym, for he synnede on a deed bodi, and he schal halewe his heed in that dai.
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.
And he schal halewe to the Lord the daies of his departyng, and he schal offre a lomb of o yeer for synne, so netheles that the formere daies be maad voide, for his halewyng is defoulid.
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 lawe of consecracioun. Whanne the daies schulen be fillid, whiche he determynede by a vow, the preest schal brynge hym to the dore of the tabernacle of boond of pees, and schal offre his offryng to the Lord,
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.
a lomb of o yeer with out wem, in to brent sacrifice, and a scheep of o yeer with outen wem, for synne, and a ram with out wem, a pesible sacrifice;
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.
also a panyere of theerf looues, that ben spreynt togidere with oile, and cakis sodun in watir, and aftir anoyntid with oile, with out sourdow, and fletyng sacrifices of alle bi hem silf;
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.
whiche the preest schal offre bifor the Lord, and schal make as wel for synne as in to brent sacrifice.
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.
Sotheli he schal offre the ram a pesible sacrifice to the Lord, and he schal offre togidere a panyere of therf looues and fletyng sacryfices, that ben due bi custom.
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.
Thanne the Nazarei schal be schauun fro the heer of his consecracioun, bifor the doore of the tabernacle of boond of pees; and the preest schal take hise heeris, and schal putte on the fier, which is put vndur the sacrifice of pesible thingis.
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.
And he schal take the schuldur sodun of the ram, and o `cake of breed with out sourdow fro the panyere, and o theerf caak first sodun in watir and aftirward fried in oile, and he schal bitake in the hondis of the Nazarei, aftir that his heed is schauun.
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.
And the preest schal reise in the `siyt of the Lord the thingis takun eft of hym. And the thingis halewid schulen be the preestis part, as the brest which is comaundid to be departid, and the hipe. Aftir these thingis the Nasarey may drynke wyn.
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 lawe of the Nasarei, whanne he hath avowyd his offryng to the Lord in the tyme of his consecracioun, outakun these thingis whiche his hond fyndith. By this that he avowide in soule, so he schal do, to the perfeccioun of his halewyng.
22 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spak to Moyses and seide,
23 “Tell Aaron and his sons that when they [ask me to] bless the people, they must say,
Speke thou to Aaron and to hise sones, Thus ye schulen blesse the sones of Israel, and ye schulen seie to hem,
24 ‘I desire that Yahweh will bless you and protect you,
The Lord blesse thee, and kepe thee;
25 and that he will smile at you and act kindly toward you,
the Lord schewe his face to thee, and haue mercy on thee;
26 and that he will be good to you [IDM] and cause things to go well for you.’”
the Lord turne his cheer to thee, and yyue pees to thee.
27 Then Yahweh said, “If Aaron and his sons ask me to bless the Israeli people, truly I will bless them.”
Thei schulen clepe inwardli my name on the sones of Israel, and Y schal blesse hem.

< Numbers 6 >