Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year.
Yesterday we heard about the census of the Levites and how they were divided in terms
of where they were to camp and the division of labor and the tasks that they were assigned
in the service of the tabernacle.
And today we're going to hear about the law of the Nazirite and what that means for the
person who is vowed to become a Nazirite.
Alright, let's begin.
Today's reading is from Numbers chapters 5 and 6.
Chapter 5
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone
who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse.
You shall put out both male and female.
You shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps, in the midst
of which I dwell.
And the children of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp.
As the Lord spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Speak to the children of Israel.
When a man or woman commits any sin, that men commit an unfaithfulness against the Lord,
and that person is guilty, then he shall confess the sin which he has committed.
He shall make restitution for his trespass in full, plus one fifth of it, and give it
to the one he has wronged.
But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution
for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the ram of the atonement
with which atonement is made for him.
Every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel which they bring to the
priest shall be his.
And every man's holy things shall be his.
Whatever any man gives to the priest shall be his.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them,
If any man's wife goes astray, and behaves unfaithfully toward him, and a man lies with
her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she
has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she caught.
If the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, who has defiled
herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife,
although she has not defiled herself, then the man shall bring his wife to the priest.
He shall bring the offering required for her, one tenth of an effah of barley meal.
He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy,
an offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance.
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord.
The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is
on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.
Then the priest shall stand the woman before the Lord, uncover the woman's head, and put
the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy.
Then the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse.
And the priest shall put her under oath, and say to the woman, if no man has lain with
you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband's authority, be free
from this bitter water that brings a curse.
But if you have gone astray while under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled
yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you, then the priest shall
put the woman under the oath of the curse.
And he shall say to the woman, the Lord make you a curse, and an oath among your people,
when the Lord makes your thigh rot, and your belly swell, and may this water that causes
the curse to go into your stomach, and make your belly swell, and your thigh rot.
Then the woman shall say, Amin, so be it.
Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into
the bitter water.
And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that
brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter.
Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, shall
waive the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar.
And the priest shall take a handful of the offering as its memorial portion, burn it
on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.
When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be.
If she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings
a curse will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot,
and the woman will become a curse among her people.
But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive
children.
This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband's authority, goes
astray and defiles herself.
Or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife,
then he shall stand the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute all this law
upon her.
Then the man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her guilt.
Number 6 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak
to the children of Israel, and say to them, When either a man or woman consecrates an
offering to take the vow of a Nazarite, to separate himself to the Lord, he shall separate
himself from wine and similar drink.
He shall drink neither vinegar made from wine, nor vinegar made from similar drink.
Neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.
All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine
from seed to skin.
All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head until the
days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord.
He shall be holy.
Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body.
He shall not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother
or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head.
All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the Lord.
And if anyone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then
he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing.
On the seventh day he shall shave it.
Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtle doves or two young pigeons to the priest,
to the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
And the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make
atonement for him because he sinned in regard to the corpse.
And he shall sanctify his head that same day.
He shall consecrate to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its
first year as a trespass offering.
But the former days shall be lost because his separation was defiled.
Now this is the law of the Nazarite.
When the days of his separation are fulfilled he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle
of meeting.
And he shall present his offering to the Lord one male lamb in its first year without blemish
as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish as a sin offering, one
ram without blemish as a peace offering, a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine
flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their
drink offering.
Then the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt
offering.
And he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord with the basket
of unleavened bread.
The priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering.
Then the Nazarite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting
and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under
the sacrifice of the peace offering.
And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket
and one unleavened wafer, and put them upon the hands of the Nazarite after he has shaved
his consecrated hair.
And the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.
They are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh
of the heave offering, after that the Nazarite may drink wine.
This is the law of the Nazarite who vows to the Lord the offering of his separation and
besides that whatever else his hand is able to provide, according to the vow which he
takes so he must do according to the law of his separation.
And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the
way you should bless the children of Israel.
Say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
So they shall put my name on the children of Israel and I will bless them.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.