Rules for Nazirites
1 The Lord commanded Moses 2 to give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Any of you, male or female, who make a special vow to become a nazirite and dedicate yourself to the Lord 3 shall abstain from wine and beer. You shall not drink any kind of drink made from grapes or eat any grapes or raisins. 4 As long as you are a nazirite, you shall not eat anything that comes from a grapevine, not even the seeds or skins of grapes.
5 As long as you are under the nazirite vow, you must not cut your hair or shave. You are bound by the vow for the full time that you are dedicated to the Lord, and you shall let your hair grow. 6-7 Your hair is the sign of your dedication to God, and so you must not defile yourself by going near a corpse, not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. 8 As long as you are a nazirite, you are consecrated to the Lord.
9 If your consecrated hair is defiled because you are right beside someone who suddenly dies, you must wait seven days and then shave your head; and so you become ritually clean. 10 On the eighth day you shall bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 11 The priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to perform the ritual of purification for you because of your contact with a corpse. On the same day you shall reconsecrate your hair 12 and rededicate to the Lord your time as a nazirite. The previous period of time doesn't count, because your consecrated hair was defiled. As a repayment offering you shall bring a one-year-old lamb.
13 When you complete your nazirite vow, you shall perform this ritual. You shall go to the entrance of the Tent 14 and present to the Lord three animals without any defects: a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, a one-year-old ewe lamb for a sin offering, and a ram for a fellowship offering. 15 You shall also offer a basket of bread made without yeast: thick loaves made of flour mixed with olive oil and thin cakes brushed with olive oil, and in addition the required offerings of grain and wine.
16 The priest shall present all these to the Lord and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering. 17 He shall sacrifice the ram to the Lord as a fellowship offering, and offer it with the basket of bread; he shall also present the offerings of grain and wine. 18 At the entrance of the Tent you nazirites shall shave off your hair and put it on the fire on which the fellowship offering is being burned.
19 Then, when the shoulder of the ram is boiled, the priest shall take it and put it, together with one thick loaf of bread and one thin cake from the basket, into the hands of the nazirite. 20 Next, the priest shall present them as a special gift to the Lord; they are a sacred offering for the priest, in addition to the breast and the leg of the ram which by law belong to the priest. After that, the nazirite may drink wine.
21 These are the regulations for you nazirites; but if you promise an offering beyond what your vow requires you to give, you must fulfill exactly the promise you made.
The Priestly Blessing
22 The Lord commanded Moses 23 to tell Aaron and his sons to use the following words in blessing the people of Israel:
24 May the Lord bless you and take care of you;
25 May the Lord be kind and gracious to you;
26 May the Lord look on you with favor and give you peace.
27 And the Lord said, “If they pronounce my name as a blessing upon the people of Israel, I will bless them.”
Rules for Nazirites
1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the people of Israel:
If any of you want to dedicate yourself to me by vowing to become a Nazirite, 3 you must no longer drink any wine or beer or use any kind of vinegar. Don't drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins— 4 not even the seeds or skins.
5 The hair of a Nazirite is sacred to me, and as long as you are a Nazirite, you must never cut your hair.
6 During the time that you are a Nazirite, you must never go close to a dead body, 7-8 not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. That would make you unclean. Your hair is the sign that you are dedicated to me, so remain holy.
9 If someone suddenly dies near you, your hair is no longer sacred, and you must shave it seven days later during the ceremony to make you clean. 10 Then on the next day, bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the sacred tent. 11 He will offer one of the birds as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please me. You will then be forgiven for being too near a dead body, and your hair will again become sacred. 12 But the dead body made you unacceptable, so you must make another vow to become a Nazirite and be dedicated once more. Finally, a year-old ram must be offered as the sacrifice to make things right.
13 When you have completed your promised time of being a Nazirite, go to the sacred tent 14 and offer three animals that have nothing wrong with them: a year-old ram as a sacrifice to please me, a year-old female lamb as a sacrifice for sin, and a full-grown ram as a sacrifice to ask my blessing. 15 Wine offerings and grain sacrifices must also be brought with these animals. Finally, you are to bring a basket of bread made with your finest flour and olive oil, but without yeast. Also bring some thin wafers brushed with oil.
16 The priest will take these gifts to my altar and offer them, so that I will be pleased and will forgive you. 17 Then he will sacrifice the ram and offer the wine, grain, and bread.
18 After that, you will stand at the entrance to the sacred tent, shave your head, and put the hair in the fire where the priest has offered the sacrifice to ask my blessing.
19 Once the meat from the ram's shoulder has been boiled, the priest will take it, along with one loaf of bread and one wafer brushed with oil, and give them to you. 20 You will hand them back to the priest, who will lift them up in dedication to me. Then he can eat the meat from the ram's shoulder, its choice ribs, and its hind leg, because this is his share of the sacrifice. After this, you will no longer be a Nazirite, and you will be free to drink wine.
21 These are the requirements for Nazirites. However, if you can afford to offer more, you must do so.
The Blessing for the People
22 The Lord told Moses, 23 “When Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel, they must say:
24 I pray that the Lord
will bless and protect you,
25 and that he will show you mercy
and kindness.
26 May the Lord be good to you
and give you peace.”
27 Then the Lord said, “If Aaron and his sons ask me to bless the Israelites, I will give them my blessing.”
