Numbers

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

1The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:

2Tell the people of Israel this. A man or a woman may make a special promise to God. It is called the promise of a Nazirite. It means they set themselves apart just for the LORD.

3He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.

3That person must not drink wine or any strong drink. They must not drink sour wine of any kind. They must not drink grape juice. They must not eat grapes, fresh or dried.

Note"Strong drink" means any drink that can make a person drunk.

4All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

4For the whole time of the promise, they must eat nothing from the grapevine. Not even the seeds or the skins.

5All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

5For the whole time of the promise, no razor may touch their head. Until the time is over, they belong to the LORD. They must let their hair grow long.

6All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body.

6For the whole time they are set apart for the LORD, they must not go near a dead body.

7He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.

7Even if their father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not go near. Their hair shows they are set apart for God.

8All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.

8For the whole time of the promise, that person belongs to the LORD.

9And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.

9Someone might die suddenly right beside them. Then their set-apart hair is no longer clean. They must shave their head on the day they are made clean. That is the seventh day.

10And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

10On the eighth day they must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. They bring them to the priest at the door of the meeting tent.

NoteThe "meeting tent" was the special tent where the people came to worship God.

11And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.

11The priest will offer one bird to take away sin. He will burn the other bird as a gift to God. This makes things right again, because the dead body made the person unclean. That same day the person's head is set apart again.

12And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

12The person must start the promise over for the LORD. They must bring a male lamb one year old to pay for the wrong. The earlier days do not count anymore. The promise was broken by the dead body.

13And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

13Here is the rule for when the Nazirite's time is finished. They must be brought to the door of the meeting tent.

14And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

14There they bring gifts to the LORD. A male lamb one year old with nothing wrong with it, to be burned as a gift. A female lamb one year old with nothing wrong with it, to take away sin. And a ram with nothing wrong with it, for a friendship offering.

15And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.

15They also bring a basket of bread made without yeast. It has soft cakes of fine flour mixed with oil. It has thin wafers brushed with oil. They bring grain gifts and drink gifts too.

16And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:

16The priest brings all of this to the LORD. He offers the gift to take away sin and the gift to be burned.

17And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.

17He offers the ram as a friendship offering to the LORD, with the basket of bread. He also offers the grain gift and the drink gift.

18And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.

18At the door of the meeting tent, the Nazirite shaves off their set-apart hair. They take the hair and put it in the fire under the friendship offering.

19And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:

19The priest takes the boiled shoulder of the ram. He takes one cake and one wafer from the basket. He puts them in the hands of the Nazirite, whose hair is now shaved off.

20And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.

20The priest lifts them up and moves them before the LORD as a gift. This food is set apart for the priest. So is the breast and the thigh that were lifted up. After this, the Nazirite may drink wine again.

21This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.

21This is the rule for a person who makes the Nazirite promise. It covers the gifts they bring to the LORD. They may bring more if they can afford it. Whatever they promised, they must do.

22And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

22The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

23Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

23Tell Aaron and his sons this. Here is how you are to bless the people of Israel. Say these words to them:

24The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

24May the LORD bless you and keep you safe.

25The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

25May the LORD smile on you and be kind to you.

Note"Make his face shine upon you" is an old way of saying "smile at you." It means God is happy with you and turns toward you.

26The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

26May the LORD look at you with love and give you peace.

27And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

27In this way they will put my name on the people of Israel. And I will bless them.