Numbers 6

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh,

“Tell the Israelites: If a man or a woman makes a special promise to become a Nazirite, to dedicate themselves to the Lord,

3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.

they must not drink any wine or other alcoholic drink. They must not even drink vinegar made from wine or other alcoholic drink, or any grape juice or eat grapes or raisins.

4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.

The whole time they are dedicated to the Lord they must not eat anything from a grapevine, not even grape seeds or skins.

5 “‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.

They must not use a razor on their heads during the whole time of this promise of dedication. They must remain holy until their time of dedication to the Lord is finished. They must let their hair grow long.

6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near a dead body.

During this time of dedication to the Lord they must not go near a dead body.

7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head.

Even if it's their father, mother, brother or sister who has died, they are not to make themselves unclean, because their uncut hair announces their dedication to God.

8 All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh.

Through the whole time of their dedication they are to be holy to the Lord.

9 “‘If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it.

However, if someone dies suddenly close to them, making them unclean, they must wait seven days, and on the seventh day when they are made clean again they are to shave their heads.

10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.

On the eighth day they shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

11 The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day.

The priest will offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make them right, because they became guilty by being near the dead body. On that day they must re-dedicate themselves and let their hair grow again.

12 He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled.

They must re-dedicate themselves to the Lord for the full time they originally promised and bring a one-year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The previous days don't count towards the time of dedication because they became unclean.

13 “‘This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting,

These are the rules to be observed when the Nazirite's time of dedication is finished. They are to be taken to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

14 and he shall offer his offering to Yahweh: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering, one ram without defect for peace offerings,

There they are to present an offering to the Lord of a one-year-old male lamb without defects as a burnt offering, a one-year-old female lamb without defects as a sin offering, and ram without defects as a peace offering.

15 a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil with their meal offering and their drink offerings.

In addition they are to bring a basket of bread without yeast made from the best flour mixed with olive oil and wafers without yeast coated with olive oil as well as their grain offerings and drink offerings.

16 The priest shall present them before Yahweh, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering.

The priest will present all these before the Lord as well as sacrificing the sin offering and the burnt offering.

17 He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering and its drink offering.

He will also sacrifice a ram as a peace offering to the Lord, together with the basket of bread made without yeast. In addition the priest will present the grain offering and drink offering.

18 The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings.

Then the Nazirites are to shave their heads at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They shall take the hair from their heads that were dedicated, and place it on the fire under the peace offering.

19 The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the head of his separation;

Once the Nazirites have shaved, the priest will take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one bread without yeast from the basket, and one wafer without yeast, and place them in their hands.

20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. They are holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.

The priest will wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. These items are holy and belong to the priest, as well as the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was offered. Once this is finished, Nazirites may drink wine.

21 “‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows and of his offering to Yahweh for his separation, in addition to that which he is able to afford. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation.’”

These are the rules to be observed when a Nazirite promises to give offerings to the Lord regarding their dedication. They can also bring additional offerings if they can afford it. Every Nazirite must fulfill whatever promises they have made when they dedicated themselves.”

22 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.’ You shall tell them,

“Tell Aaron and his sons: This is how you are to bless the Israelites. This is what they are to say:

24 ‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you.

‘May the Lord bless you and take care of you.

25 Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you.

May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.

26 Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’

May the Lord watch over you and give you peace.’

27 “So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”

Whenever the priests bless the Israelites in my name, I will bless them.”