Numbers 6
The Voice
6 The Eternal One spoke to Moses again.
Eternal One: 2 Tell the Israelites that when anyone of them, man or woman, takes the special Nazirite vow, which distinguishes this Israelite as set apart for Me, 3-4 he shall abstain from alcohol, even from any grape products—vinegar, juice, or the fruit itself (dried or fresh), seeds, or skin—for the entire time he is a Nazirite. 5 Also, the Nazirite shall not cut the hair on his head but let it grow long for the duration of the Nazirite vow because he is holy and set apart for Me. 6 And the Nazirite shall not go near a corpse during that time, 7 even if the dead person is a parent or sibling, lest the Nazirite become ritually impure and ignore the fact of his consecration to God. 8 For the entirety of his Nazirite separation, he is holy to Me.
9 If it happens that someone suddenly dies near a Nazirite, accidentally rendering his special hair ritually impure, the Nazirite should shave it off on the day he purifies himself and again on the seventh day. 10-11 On the eighth day, the Nazirite will purify his head, bring two turtledoves and two young pigeons as offerings—sin and burnt—to the priest at the entrance of the congregation tent. The priest shall offer to make things right after inadvertent proximity to a corpse. 12 The Nazirite shall also bring a year-old male lamb as an offering for guilt. His head shall be made holy again at that time and the vow reinstated, not counting the previous days because he was defiled.
13 The following is how things should be done after the Nazirite has satisfied the duration of the vows: the offering should be brought to the entrance of the congregation tent 14 to present the gift to Me—unblemished, one-year-old male and female lambs as burnt and sin offerings, respectively; one unblemished ram as a peace offering, 15 a basket of flatbread, delicate cakes of fine flour and oil, crackers spread with oil, plus the regular grain and drink offerings. 16-17 The priest shall present all these (sin and burnt offerings, peace offering, and grain and drink offerings) before Me as the law instructs for each offering. 18 Then and there at the entrance to the congregation tent, the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head and burn the hair in the fire underneath the peace sacrifice. 19 Once the ram’s shoulder has boiled, the priest shall take it and one piece of flatbread and one cracker from the basket, and place those things on the outstretched palms of the shaved Nazirite. 20 Then the priest shall raise them up in offering to the Eternal, and keep them as the priest’s holy portion along with the wave offering breast and contributed thigh, which were likewise offered up. After all this, the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 This is the instruction for the Nazirite who takes a vow. The offerings to Me must be just so, besides anything else that the Nazirite can afford to give. Whatever has been promised, he must do, in keeping with the law for his consecration.
22 (continuing instruction to Moses) 23 Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the Israelites by saying,
24 The Eternal One bless and keep you.
25 May He make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you.
26 The Eternal lift up His countenance
to look upon you and give you peace.
27 In this way, they will set My name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.
Numbers 6
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.
The Priestly Blessing
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23 Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is how you will bless the children of Israel, saying to them,
24 The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make His face to shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you;
26 the Lord lift His countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
27 They will put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.