The Nazirite Vow

1The LORD instructed Moses: 2“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man or woman makes a special vow, a Nazirite vow,a to consecrate himself tob the LORD, 3he is to abstainc from wine and beer.d He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from beer. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4He is not to eat anything produced by the grapevine, from seeds to skin,e during his vow.

5“You must not cut his hairf throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He must be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the LORD; he is to let the hair of his head grow long. 6He must not go near a dead body during the time he consecrates himself to the LORD.g 7He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, because the hair consecrated to his God is on his head. 8He is holy to the LORDh during the time of consecration.

9“If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day.i 10On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.j 11The priest is to offer one as a •sin offering and the other as a •burnt offeringk to make •atonement on behalf of the Nazirite, since he sinned because of the corpse. On that day he must consecratel his head again.m 12He is to rededicate his time of consecration to the LORD and to bring a year-old male lamb as a •restitution offering.n But do not count the previous period, because his consecrated hair became defiled.

13“This is the law of the Nazirite: On the day his time of consecration is completed, he must be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.o 14He is to present an offering to the LORDp of one unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, one unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, one unblemished ram as a •fellowship offering,q 15along with their •grain offerings and •drink offerings,r and a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil.s

16“The priest is to present these before the LORD and sacrifice the Nazirite’s sin offering and burnt offering. 17He will also offer the ram as a fellowship sacrifice to the LORD, together with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest will offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.

18“The Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair from his head, and put it on the fire under the fellowship sacrifice. 19The priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the handst of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head. 20The priest is to wave them as a presentation offering before the LORD.u It is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution.v After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

21“This is the ritual of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD for his consecration,w in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes in keeping with the ritual for his consecration.”

The Priestly Blessing

22The LORD spoke to Moses: 23“Tell Aaron and his sons how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

24May •Yahweh bless you and protect you;x

25may Yahweh make His face shine on you

and be gracious to you;y

26may Yahweh look with favor on youz

and give you peace.aa, ab

27In this way they will pronounce My name overac the Israelites, and I will bless them.”