Numbers 6

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 6

Nazirite Laws.^{[a] 1} The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘If a man or a woman dedicates himself or herself with a vow, a Nazirite vow to dedicate himself or herself unto the Lord, ³ that person will abstain from wine and strong drink. He will not drink any vinegar made from wine or from strong drink, nor will he drink any grape juice, nor will he eat grapes or raisins. ⁴ He is not to eat anything that comes from the vine, not even the seeds or the skins as long as he is a Nazirite. ⁵ No razor will touch his head all throughout the time of his vow. He is to be holy until the days of his vow have been completed. He will let the hair on his head grow long. ⁶ He is not to approach any dead body during the entire period of his vow to the Lord. ⁷ He is not to make himself unclean even for his father or mother if they were to die, nor his brother or sister, for the consecration of God is upon his head. ⁸ He is to be holy to the Lord all the days of his vow.

⁹ “ ‘But if someone were to die suddenly in his presence and defile his consecrated head, he is to shave his head on the day of his cleansing and he will shave it again on the seventh day. ¹⁰ Then on the eighth day he will bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹¹ The priest will offer one of them as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering making atonement for the uncleanness caused by the dead person. On that same day he is to consecrate his head^{[b] 12} and he will dedicate his days of consecration unto the Lord. He will bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The days that preceded this incident will not count, however, for his dedicated head had been defiled.

¹³ “ ‘This is the law concerning Nazirites when the time of their dedication is completed. He is to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹⁴ He will bring a year-old male lamb without defect unto the Lord as a burnt offering, and a one-year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, and a one-year-old ram without defect as a peace offering ¹⁵ and a basket of unleavened bread made from fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers of bread with oil spread on them, and a cereal offering, and a drink offering. ¹⁶ The priest will bring them before the Lord and he will offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷ He will offer the ram as the sacrifice of a peace offering unto the Lord together with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest will also offer the cereal offering and the drink offering. ¹⁸ The Nazirite will shave his head at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He will take the hair that grew during the period when he was vowed and put it on the fire under the sacrifice of the peace offering. ¹⁹ The priest will take a shoulder of the ram that has been boiled, and an unleavened cake out of the basket, and an unleavened wafer, and he will put them into the hands of the Nazirite who has shaved off the hair of his vow. ²⁰ The priest will wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy and will belong to the priest, along with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was presented. After this the Nazirite can drink wine. ²¹ This is the law of the Nazirite who has vowed his offering unto the Lord for his consecration (apart from what else he can afford). He must fulfill what he has vowed to do by the Nazirite law.’ ”

²² The Priests’ Blessing.^[c] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is how you will bless the people of Israel, saying to them,

²⁷ They will invoke my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”