Numbers 6

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

² ‘Say this to the sons of Israel: man or a woman wishes to make a vow, the vow of the nazirite by which he is pledged to Yahweh,

³ he shall abstain from wine and strong drink and neither drink the juice of grapes, nor eat grapes, fresh or dried.

⁴ For the duration of his vow he shall touch nothing that comes from the vine, not even verjuice or lees.

⁵ As long as he is bound by his vow, no razor shall touch his head; until the time of his consecration to Yahweh is completed, he remains under vow and shall let his hair grow free.

⁶ For the entire period of his consecration to Yahweh he must not go near a corpse,

⁷ he must not make himself unclean for either father or mother, for either brother or sister, should they die; On his head he carries his consecration to his God.

⁸ Throughout the whole of his nazirate he is a person consecrated to Yahweh.

⁹ “If anyone dies suddenly in his presence, and so makes his consecrated hair unclean, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing, he must shave his head on the seventh day.

¹⁰ On the eighth day, he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

¹¹ The priest must offer one as a sacrifice for sin, and the other as a holocaust; he must then perform over this man the rite of atonement for the defilement that he has contracted from the corpse. The man must consecrate his head that same day;

¹² he must consecrate himself to Yahweh for the period of his nazirate, and he must bring a male yearling lamb as a sacrifice of reparation. The time already spent shall not count, since his hair has become unclean.

¹³ “This is the ritual to be followed by the nazirite on the day when his period of consecration is completed. He is to be led to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,

¹⁴ and must make his offering to Yahweh: for holocaust, a male yearling lamb without blemish; for sacrifice for sin, a yearling ewe lamb without blemish; for communion sacrifice, a ram without blemish,

¹⁵ and a basket of unleavened loaves made of fine flour mixed with oil, and of unleavened wafers spread with oil, with the oblations and libations appropriate to them.

¹⁶ When he has brought all this before Yahweh, the priest must offer the sacrifice for sin and the holocaust for the nazirite.

¹⁷ The nazirite must offer up the communion sacrifice with the ram and the unleavened bread in the basket, and the priest must offer the accompanying oblation and libation.

¹⁸ Then the nazirite shall shave off his consecrated hair at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and taking the locks of his consecrated head, he shall put them in the fire of the communion sacrifice.

¹⁹ The priest is to take the shoulder of the ram, as soon as it is cooked, with an unleavened cake from the basket, and an unleavened wafer. He is to put them into the hands of the nazirite when the nazirite has shaved off his hair.

²⁰ With them he must make the gesture of offering before Yahweh; as it is a holy thing, it reverts to the priest, in addition to the breast that has been presented and the thigh that has been set aside. After this the nazirite may once more drink wine.

²¹ “Such is the ritual for the nazirite. If, besides the hair, he has also vowed a personal offering to Yahweh, he must (apart from anything else that his means allow) fulfil the vow that he has made, in addition to what the ritual prescribes for his hair.”‘

²² Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

²³ ‘Say this to Aaron and his sons: “This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

²⁴ May Yahweh bless you and keep you.

²⁵ May Yahweh let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.

²⁶ May Yahweh uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”

²⁷ This is how they are to call down my name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them.’