Numbers 6
6
The Nazirites
1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Tell the Israelites: ‘A man or a woman might want to promise to belong to the Lord in a special way. This person will be called a Nazirite. 3During this time, he must not drink wine or beer. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or beer. He must not even drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. 4While he is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine. He must not even eat the seeds or the skin.
5“‘During the time he promised to belong to the Lord, he must not cut his hair. He must be holy until this special time is over. He must let his hair grow long. 6During his special time of belonging to the Lord, a Nazirite must not go near a dead body. 7Even if his own father, mother, brother or sister dies, he must not touch them. This would make him unclean. He must still keep his promise to belong to God in a special way. 8While he is a Nazirite, he belongs to the Lord.
9“‘If he is next to someone who dies suddenly, his hair has been made unclean. It was part of his promise. So he must shave his head seven days later to be clean. 10Then on the eighth day, he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest. The priest will be at the entrance to the Holy Tent. 11The priest will offer one as a sin offering. He will offer the other as a burnt offering. This removes sin so the man will belong to God. He had sinned because he was near a dead body. That same day he will again promise to let his hair grow for the Lord. 12He must give himself to the Lord for another special time. He must bring a male lamb a year old. It will be a penalty offering. The days of the special time before don’t count. This is because he became unclean during his first special time.
13“‘This is the teaching for a Nazirite. When the promised time is over, he must go to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 14There he will give his offerings to the Lord. He must offer a year-old male lamb as a burnt offering. It must have nothing wrong with it. He must also offer a year-old female lamb as a sin offering. There must be nothing wrong with it. And he must bring a male sheep for a fellowship offering. There must be nothing wrong with it. 15He must also bring the grain offerings and drink offerings that go with them. And he must bring a basket of bread made without yeast. There must be loaves made with fine flour mixed with oil. And there must be wafers made without yeast spread with oil.
16“‘The priest will give these offerings to the Lord. He will make the sin offering and the burnt offering. 17Then he will kill the male sheep as a fellowship offering to the Lord. Along with it, he will present the basket of bread. He will also make the grain offering and the drink offering along with it.
18“‘The Nazirite must go to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. There he must shave off his hair that he grew for his promise. The hair will be put in the fire that is under the sacrifice on the fellowship offering.
19“‘After the Nazirite cuts off his hair, the priest will give him a boiled shoulder from the male sheep. From the basket he will also give him a loaf and a wafer. Both are made without yeast. 20Then the priest will present them to the Lord. This is an offering presented before the Lord. They are holy and belong to the priest. Also, he is to present the breast and the thigh from the male sheep to the Lord. They also belong to the priest. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.
21“‘This is the teaching for the Nazirite promise. If a person makes the Nazirite promise, he must give all of these gifts to the Lord. If he promised to do more, he must keep his promise. That is also the teaching of the Nazirite promise.’”
The Priests’ Blessings
22The Lord said to Moses, 23“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you should bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24“May the Lord bless you and keep you.
25May the Lord show you his kindness.
May he have mercy on you.
26May the Lord watch over you
and give you peace.”’
27“So Aaron and his sons will bless the Israelites with my name. And I will bless them.”
Currently Selected:
Numbers 6: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Numbers 6
6
Nazirites
1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Tell the Israelites this: If there are people, men or women, who want to make a vow dedicating themselves to the Lord as Nazirites for a time, this is what they must do: 3They must stay away from wine or other strong drink. They must not drink vinegar that is made from wine or from other strong drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. 4During that special time of dedication, they must not eat anything that comes from grapes. They must not even eat the seeds or the skins from grapes.
5“The whole time of their Nazirite vow they must not cut their hair. They must be holy until this time of special dedication to the Lord is ended. They must let their hair grow long.
6“If you have taken the Nazirite vow, you must not go near someone who is dying#6:6 someone who is dying Or “a dead person.” during that special time of dedication. You have given yourself fully to the Lord, 7so you must not let yourself become unclean like this—even for your own father or mother, brother or sister when they die.#6:7 when they die Or “that have died.” This is because you have the hair that you dedicated to God on your head! 8It is holy because you have given yourself fully to the Lord for the full time of that dedication. 9So if you are with someone when they suddenly die, you will be unclean and you will have to shave the hair from your head. You must do that on the seventh day of your purification ceremony when you are made clean. 10Then on the eighth day, you must bring two doves or two young pigeons and give them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 11Then the priest will offer one bird as a sin offering and the other one as a burnt offering. The burnt offering will be a payment for the sin of touching a dead body during your special time of dedication. Then you must again promise to give the hair on your head as a gift to God. 12This means you must again give yourself to the Lord for another time of dedication. You must bring a one-year-old male lamb to offer as a guilt offering. You must start over from the beginning with a new time of dedication because you touched a dead body during your first time of dedication.
13“After their time of dedication is ended, Nazirites must go to the entrance of the Meeting Tent 14and give their offering to the Lord. Their offering must be:
a one-year-old male lamb that has nothing wrong with it for a burnt offering;
a one-year-old female lamb that has nothing wrong with it for a sin offering;
one ram that has nothing wrong with it for a fellowship offering;
15a basket of bread made without yeast—bread made with fine flour mixed with oil and wafers with oil spread on top;
and the grain offerings and drink offerings that are a part of these gifts.
16“The priest will give these things to the Lord, and then the priest will make the sin offering and the burnt offering. 17He will give the basket of bread without yeast to the Lord. Then he will kill the ram as a fellowship offering to the Lord. He will give it to the Lord with the grain offering and the drink offering.
18“The Nazirites must go to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. There they must shave off their hair that they grew as a dedication to the Lord. That hair will be put in the fire that is burning under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.
19“After the Nazirites have cut off their hair, the priest will give them a boiled shoulder from the ram and a large and a small cake from the basket. Both of these cakes are made without yeast. 20Then the priest will lift these things up to show that they were presented before the Lord. These things are holy and belong to the priest. Also, the ram’s breast and thigh that were lifted up and presented belong to the priest. After that the Nazirites can drink wine.
21“These are the rules for those who decide to make the Nazirite vow. They must give all these gifts to the Lord. But they might be able to give much more. If they promise to do more, they must keep their promise. But they must give at least all the things listed in these rules for the Nazirite vow.”
The Priests’ Blessings
22The Lord said to Moses, 23“Tell Aaron and his sons that when they bless the Israelites, this is what they should say:
24‘May the Lord bless you
and keep you.
25May the Lord smile down on you#6:25 May … on you Literally, “May the Lord make his face shine on you.”
and show you his kindness.
26May the Lord answer your prayers#6:26 May … prayers Literally, “May the Lord lift his face to you,” that is, “may he accept you into his presence and grant your request.”
and give you peace.’
27In this way Aaron and his sons will use my name to give a blessing to the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International