The Nazirite Vow

Numbers 6

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of e a Nazirite, 1 f to separate himself to the Lord, 3 he g shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation 2 he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.

5 "All the days of his vow of separation, no h razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. i He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.

6 "All the days that he separates himself to the Lord j he shall not go near a dead body. 7 k Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

9 "And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then l he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 m On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day 12 and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old n for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.

13 "And this is the law for the Nazirite, o when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish p as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish q as a peace offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, r loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their s grain offering and their t drink offerings. 16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer u his sin offering and his burnt offering, 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 And the Nazirite v shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19 And the priest shall take the w shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and x shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, 20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. y They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.

21 "This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite."

  1. Cross References
    Judges 13:5
    For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
    Acts 21:23
    Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.
  2. Cross References
    Romans 1:1
    Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.
  3. Cross References
    Amos 2:12
    "But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy.'
    Luke 1:15
    For he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
  4. Cross References
    Judges 13:5
    For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
    Judges 16:17
    And he told her all his heart, and said to her, "A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.
    1 Samuel 1:11
    And she vowed a vow and said, "O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.
  5. Cross References
    Ezekiel 44:20
    They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads.
    1 Corinthians 11:14
    Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him.
  6. Cross References
    Numbers 19:11
    Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days.
    Numbers 19:16
    Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
    Leviticus 21:11
    He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother.
  7. Cross References
    Leviticus 21:1 - 2
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people.
    Leviticus 21:11
    He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother.
  8. Cross References
    Acts 18:18
    After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.
    Acts 21:24
    Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.
  9. Cross References
    Leviticus 5:7
    But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
    Leviticus 14:22
    Also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
    Leviticus 15:14
    And on the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest.
    Leviticus 15:29
    And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting.
  10. Cross References
    Leviticus 5:6
    He shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
  11. Cross References
    Acts 21:26
    Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.
  12. Cross References
    Leviticus 4:32
    If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish
  13. Cross References
    Leviticus 3:6
    If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish.
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 29:2
    And unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour.
    Leviticus 2:4
    When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil.
  15. Cross References
    Exodus 29:41
    The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord.
  16. Cross References
    Numbers 15:5
    And you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb.
    Numbers 15:7
    And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
    Numbers 15:10
    And you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
  17. Cross References
    Numbers 6:14
    And he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering.
  18. Cross References
    Acts 18:18
    After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.
    Acts 21:24
    Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.
  19. Cross References
    1 Samuel 2:15
    Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.
  20. Cross References
    Exodus 29:23 - 24
    And one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord.
  21. Cross References
    Numbers 5:25
    And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand and shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar.
    Exodus 29:27 - 28
    And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests' portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron's and his sons'.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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