Numbers 6

₁The Lord said to Moses: ₂‘You must talk to the Israelites and tell them: “If a man or a woman makes a promise to God to become a Nazirite and consecrates himself to the Lord, ₃then he may not drink wine or beer. He may not drink wine or vinegar or any other strong drink. He may not drink grape juice and he may not eat grapes, not fresh grapes or raisins. ₄While he is a Nazirite, he may not eat anything that comes from a vine, not even the seeds or the skin of the grapes. ₅While he is a Nazirite as he has promised the Lord, he may not cut his hair or shave his beard and he must stay consecrated. He has consecrated himself to the Lord for some time and he must stay consecrated until that time has passed. His hair must grow long. ₆While he is consecrated to the Lord, he may not come near the body of a dead person. ₇Even if it is his father or mother or brother or sister who has died, he may not become impure, because his long hair shows that he is consecrated to the Lord. ₈While he is a Nazirite, he is consecrated to the Lord.

₉But if someone who is with him suddenly dies and the Nazirite becomes impure, then he must cut off all his hair on the 7th day and he will become pure again. ₁₀On the 8th day he must bring 2 doves to the priest at the tent of the Lord. ₁₁The priest must sacrifice one dove as a sin-offering and the other dove as a burnt-offering. The priest must make atonement for the person because he was near the body of a dead person and he must be consecrated on that day. ₁₂He must consecrate himself to the Lord again for the full time and he must bring a ram that is one-year-old for a guilt-offering. He must forget the time that he was consecrated before he became impure, and he must start his time over again.

₁₃The Nazirite has consecrated himself to the Lord for some time and he must stay consecrated until that time has passed. This is what he must do when his time is finished: Someone must bring him to the entrance of the tent of the Lord. ₁₄He must bring his offering for the Lord with him. The offering must be a healthy ram that is one-year-old, for the burnt-offering, a healthy ewe that is one-year-old for the sin-offering, a healthy sheep ram for the meal-offering, ₁₅and a basket of flat bread that they have made of the best flour, round bread and wafers. He must mix the dough of the round bread with olive oil and he must put olive oil onto the wafers. He must also bring grain-offerings and drink-offerings that must be with the other offerings.

₁₆The priest must then let the Nazirite stand before the Lord and the priest must sacrifice the sin-offering and the burnt-offering. ₁₇He must sacrifice the ram to be a meal-offering and the grain-offering and the drink-offering that must be with the other offerings.

₁₈The Nazirite must then cut off all of his hair at the entrance of the tent of the Lord and take the long hair and put it into the fire where they cook the meal-offering. ₁₉When the meal-offering is cooked, the priest must take the shoulder of the ram and a round bread from the basket and a wafer and put it into the hands of the Nazirite, after he has cut off all of his hair.

₂₀The priest must move the shoulder and the bread before the Lord. This is a special gift for Me and it is consecrated and it belongs to the priest, with the breast and the thigh of the ram. The breast is a special gift for Me and the thigh is a gift for the priest. After that the Nazirite may drink wine. ₂₁This is what a Nazirite must do. He made a promise to God and these are the offerings that he must bring because he is consecrated. He may also bring other offerings if he has something that he wants to give to the Lord. He must do what he has promised and what the laws say.” ’

₂₂The Lord said to Moses: ₂₃‘You must tell Aaron and his sons how they must bless the Israelites. They must say:

₂₇When the priests say these words, I will be with the Israelites and I will bless them.’