Numbers 6
1 Yahweh also said this to Moses/me:
And the Lord said to Moses,
2 “Tell this to the Israeli people: ‘If any of you [wants to] make a solemn promise to dedicate himself to belong to me in a special way, [after you obey these instructions], you will be called a Nazir-man, [which means “dedicated man”].
Say to the children of Israel, If a man or a woman takes an oath to keep himself separate and give himself to the Lord;
3 You must not drink any wine or other alcoholic/fermented drink. You must not drink any vinegar made from wine or from any other alcoholic/fermented drink. You must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins.
He is to keep himself from wine and strong drink, and take no mixed wine or strong drink or any drink made from grapes, or any grapes, green or dry.
4 You must not eat anything that comes from grapevines, not even the skins or seeds of grapes, during the time that you are a Nazir-man.
All the time he is separate he may take nothing made from the grape-vine, from its seeds to its skin.
5 ‘Even your hair will be dedicated to me during the time that you area Nazir-man, so you must never allow anyone to cut your hair. Until the time that your solemn promise to dedicate yourself to me is ended, you must allow your hair to grow long.
All the time he is under his oath let no blade come near his head; till the days while he is separate are ended he is holy and his hair may not be cut.
6 And you must not go near a corpse during the time that you are a Nazir-man.
All the time he is separate he may not come near any dead body.
7 Even if the person who died is your father or your mother or your brother or your sister, you must not cause yourself to become unacceptable to me [by coming close to the corpse]. Your long hair [MTY] shows that you belong to me in a special way, so you must not cut your hair.
He may not make himself unclean for his father or his mother, his sister or his brother, if death comes to them; because he is under an oath to keep himself separate for God.
8 You are required to keep doing this all the time that you are dedicated to me in this special way.
All the time he is separate he is holy to the Lord.
9 ‘If anyone dies very suddenly when he is near you, then your hair that you have dedicated to me is no longer sacred. So you must wait seven days and then shave it all off. Then you must perform a special ritual to cause yourself to become acceptable to me again.
If death comes suddenly to a man at his side, so that he becomes unclean, let his hair be cut off on the day when he is made clean, on the seventh day.
10 The next day you must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Sacred Tent.
And on the eighth day let him take to the priest, at the door of the Tent of meeting, two doves or two young pigeons;
11 ‘The priest must [kill the birds and] offer them as sacrifices. One of them will be an offering to enable me to forgive you for the sins you have committed, and the other will be an offering that is burned completely to please me. [After the priest burns them on the altar], I will forgive you for having come close to a corpse, and [when] your hair [grows again it] will be dedicated to me again.
And the priest will give one for a sin-offering and the other for a burned offering to take away the sin which came on him on account of the dead, and he will make his head holy that same day.
12 The amount of time that you were set apart for me the previous time does not count, because you had become unacceptable to me [by coming close to a corpse] during the time that you were a Nazir-man. So you must again make a solemn promise to dedicate yourself to me for the entire amount of time that you indicated the previous time. And you must also sacrifice a one-year-old lamb for not doing what you were required to do.
And he will give to the Lord his days of being separate, offering a he-lamb of the first year as an offering for error: but the earlier days will be a loss, because he became unclean.
13 ‘When the time that you promised to dedicate yourself to me is ended, go to the entrance of the Sacred Tent
And this is the law for him who is separate, when the necessary days are ended: he is to come to the door of the Tent of meeting,
14 and offer as sacrifices to me three animals that have no defects: Offer a one-year-old ram that will be burned completely, a one-year-old female lamb as a sacrifice to enable me to forgive your sins, and one full-grown ram as a sacrifice to maintain fellowship with me.
And make his offering to the Lord; one he-lamb of the first year, without a mark, for a burned offering, and one female lamb of the first year, without a mark, for a sin-offering, and one male sheep, without a mark, for peace-offerings,
15 ‘When you bring those animals, you must also bring some wine to offer as a sacrifice. And you must also bring a basket of bread that you have made with very good flour and [olive] oil. But you must not put any yeast in the bread. Also brush/spread some [olive] oil on some thin wafers and bring them to the priest.
And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of the best meal mixed with oil, and thin unleavened cakes covered with oil, with their meal offering and drink offerings.
16 ‘The priest will put the young lamb and the young ram on the altar and completely burn them, in order that I will be pleased and will forgive you for your sins.
And the priest will take them before the Lord, and make his sin-offering and his burned offering;
17 Then he will kill the full-grown ram as an offering to restore fellowship with me, and he will also burn on the altar some of the bread and the grain and wine.
Giving the sheep of the peace-offerings, with the basket of unleavened bread; and at the same time, the priest will make his meal offering and his drink offering.
18 ‘After that, you must [stand at] the entrance of the Sacred Tent and shave off your hair. Then you must put that hair in the fire that is under the [animal that has been sacrificed] on the altar to maintain fellowship with me.
Then let his long hair, the sign of his oath, be cut off at the door of the Tent of meeting, and let him put it on the fire on which the peace-offerings are burning.
19 ‘The meat from the ram’s shoulder must be boiled. After it is cooked, the priest will take it along with one of the loaves of bread and one wafer which has been brushed with [olive] oil, and he will put them in your hands.
And the priest will take the cooked leg of the sheep and one unleavened cake and one thin cake out of the basket, and put them on the hands of the separate one after his hair has been cut,
20 Then the priest will [take them back and] lift them up high to dedicate them to me. They now belong to the priest, and he is permitted to eat some of the meat from the ram’s shoulder and from its ribs and from one of its thighs, because that meat is his share of the sacrifice. After that, you will no longer be a Nazir-man, and you will again be permitted to drink wine.
Waving them for a wave offering before the Lord; this is holy for the priest, together with the waved breast and the leg which is lifted up; after that, the man may take wine.
21 ‘Those are the regulations about the offerings that Nazir-men solemnly promise to bring to me to end their time of being dedicated to me. They must bring these offerings, but if they want to, they may bring additional offerings. And they must do everything that they solemnly promised to do when they dedicated themselves to me.’”
This is the law for him who takes an oath to keep himself separate, and for his offering to the Lord on that account, in addition to what he may be able to get; this is the law of his oath, which he will have to keep.
22 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
And the Lord said to Moses,
23 “Tell Aaron and his sons that when they [ask me to] bless the people, they must say,
Say to Aaron and his sons, These are the words of blessing which are to be used by you in blessing the children of Israel; say to them,
24 ‘I desire that Yahweh will bless you and protect you,
May the Lord send his blessing on you and keep you:
25 and that he will smile at you and act kindly toward you,
May the light of the Lord's face be shining on you in grace:
26 and that he will be good to you [IDM] and cause things to go well for you.’”
May the Lord's approval be resting on you and may he give you peace.
27 Then Yahweh said, “If Aaron and his sons ask me to bless the Israeli people, truly I will bless them.”
So they will put my name on the children of Israel, and I will give them my blessing.
