6
Taking a Special Vow
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: A man or a woman may make a special vow to live as a Nazirite dedicated to the Lord. 3 Nazirites must never drink wine, liquor, vinegar made from wine or liquor, or any kind of grape juice, and they must never eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4 As long as they are Nazirites, they must never eat anything that comes from a grapevine, not even grape seeds or skins.
5 “As long as they are under the Nazirite vow, no razor may touch their heads. During the entire time that they are dedicated to the Lord as Nazirites, they will be holy. They must let their hair grow long. 6 While they are dedicated to the Lord as Nazirites, they must never go near a dead body. 7 Even if their own father, mother, brother, or sister dies, they must not make themselves unclean* by going near them. Nazarites show their vow to God with their long hair. 8 As long as they are Nazirites, they will be holy to the Lord.
9 “Someone might suddenly drop dead next to a Nazirite and make the Nazirite’s hair unclean. Seven days later he must shave his head in order to be declared clean.† 10 On the eighth day he must bring two mourning doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 11 The priest will sacrifice one as an offering for sin and the other one as a burnt offering. The priest will make peace with the Lord for the person who touched the dead body. That same day the person must dedicate his head again. 12 Once again he will dedicate himself to the Lord as a Nazirite for the same length of time as before. He must bring a one-year-old male lamb as an offering for guilt. The first time period won’t count. He has to start over from when he became unclean.
13 “These are the instructions for Nazirites who complete their vows: They must come to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 14 They must bring these offerings to the Lord: a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, a one-year-old female lamb as an offering for sin, and a ram as a fellowship offering. All of these animals must have no defects. 15 They must also bring a basket of unleavened bread containing some rings of bread made with olive oil and wafers of unleavened bread brushed with olive oil, along with other grain offerings and wine offerings.
16 “The priest will bring these offerings to the Lord and make the offering for sin and the burnt offering. 17 He will sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering to the Lord, offer the basket of unleavened bread along with it, and make the grain offerings and wine offerings.
18 “Then the Nazirites will shave their heads at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair as proof that they had made this vow, and put it on the fire under the fellowship offering.
19 “Then the priest will take one of the shoulders from a boiled ram, one ring of unleavened bread from the basket, and one wafer of unleavened bread and hand them to the Nazirites after they have shaved off their hair. 20 The priest will present them as an offering to the Lord. They are holy and belong to the priest, along with the ram’s breast that is presented and the thigh that is given. After that, the Nazirites may drink wine.
21 “These are the instructions for those who have vowed to bring their offerings to the Lord because they were Nazirites. They must bring these offerings in addition to anything else they can afford. They must fulfill the requirements of these instructions for Nazirites and finish whatever they vowed to do.”
How Aaron and His Sons Will Bless the Israelites
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you will bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 The Lord will bless you and watch over you.
25 The Lord will smile on you and be kind to you.
26 The Lord will look on you with favor and give you peace.’
27 “So whenever they use my name to bless the Israelites, I will bless them.”
* 6:7 “Unclean” refers to anything that is not presentable to God. † 6:9 “Clean” refers to anything that is presentable to God.