NumbersChapter 6

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¹The LORD said to Moses, ²"Speak to the Israelites and tell them this. A man or a woman may make a special promise. It is the promise of a Nazirite, to be set apart to the LORD. ³That person must not drink wine or strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴All the days he is set apart, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine. He must not even eat the seeds or the skins. ⁵For the whole time of his promise, no razor may touch his head. He must be holy until his time of being set apart to the LORD is over. He must let the hair on his head grow long. ⁶All the days he is set apart to the LORD, he must not go near a dead body. ⁷Even if his father, mother, brother, or sister dies, he must not make himself unclean. That is because the sign that he is set apart to his God is on his head. ⁸All the time he is set apart, he is holy to the LORD. ⁹Someone may suddenly die right beside him. This makes his set-apart hair unclean. Then he must shave his head on the day he is made clean. That is the seventh day. ¹⁰On the eighth day he must bring two doves or two young pigeons. He must bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹¹The priest must offer one as a sin offering. He must offer the other as a burnt offering. This will make atonement for him, because he sinned by being near the dead body. On that same day he must set apart his head again. ¹²He must give his time of being set apart to the LORD again. He must bring a one-year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. But the days before do not count, because his time of being set apart was made unclean. ¹³This is the law for the Nazirite when his time of being set apart is over. He must be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁴There he must give his offering to the LORD. He must bring a one-year-old male lamb with no flaws as a burnt offering. He must bring a one-year-old female lamb with no flaws as a sin offering. He must bring a ram with no flaws as a peace offering. ¹⁵He must bring their grain offerings and drink offerings too. And he must bring a basket of bread made without yeast. It must hold cakes made of fine flour mixed with oil. It must also hold thin wafers made without yeast and brushed with oil. ¹⁶The priest must bring all these before the LORD. He must make the sin offering and the burnt offering. ¹⁷He must also offer the ram as a peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of bread made without yeast. The priest must also offer the grain offering and drink offering that go with it. ¹⁸Then the Nazirite must shave off his set-apart hair at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He must take the hair and put it on the fire under the peace offering. ¹⁹The Nazirite has just shaved off his set-apart hair. Now the priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram. He must take one cake and one wafer made without yeast from the basket. He must put them in the Nazirite's hands. ²⁰Then the priest must wave them before the LORD as a wave offering. This is a holy share for the priest. It is added to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was given. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine. ²¹This is the law of the Nazirite who promises an offering to the LORD for being set apart. He may also give more if he can afford it. But he must do whatever he promised, by the law for the Nazirite." ²²Then the LORD said to Moses, ²³"Tell Aaron and his sons that this is how they must bless the Israelites. Say to them, ²⁴'May the LORD bless you and keep you. ²⁵May the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. ²⁶May the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.' ²⁷So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."