Numbers 6:1-21

Modern English Version

The Nazirite Vow

6 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When either a man or woman will make a hard vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate themselves to the Lord, ³ he will separate himself from wine and strong drink and will drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink. Neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh or dry grapes. ⁴ All the days of his separation he will eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seed to the skin.

⁵ All the days of the vow of his separation no razor will come on his head until the days are fulfilled in which he separates himself to the Lord. He will be holy and will let the locks of the hair of his head grow. ⁶ All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he will not approach a dead body. ⁷ He will not defile himself for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister if they die because the separation of his God is on his head. ⁸ All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

⁹ If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he has defiled his consecrated head, then he will shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day will he shave it. ¹⁰ On the eighth day he will bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting. ¹¹ And the priest will offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering and make an atonement for him, since he sinned because of the dead, and will sanctify his head that same day. ¹² He will consecrate to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a guilt offering. But the previous days will be lost because his separation was defiled.

¹³ This is the law of the Nazirite. When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he will be brought to the door of the tent of meeting. ¹⁴ And he will offer his offering to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, one ram without blemish as a peace offering, ¹⁵ a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their drink offerings.

¹⁶ The priest will bring them before the Lord and will offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷ And he will offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest will offer also his grain offering and his drink offering.

¹⁸ The Nazirite will shave his consecrated head at the door of the tent of meeting, and will take the hair from his consecrated head and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.

¹⁹ The priest will take the cooked shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer and will put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved his consecrated hair. ²⁰ And the priest will wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. This is holy for the priest, with the breast waved and the shoulder offered. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹ This is the law of the Nazirite who has vowed to the Lord, his offering for his separation, besides whatever else his hand is able to provide. According to the vow which he spoke, so he must do, according to the law of his separation.