1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When someone—either a man or a woman—takes a special vow, to take a vow as a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord, 3 he must separate himself from wine and strong drink; he must drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from strong drink, nor may he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4 All the days of his separation he must not eat anything that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.
5 “‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor may be used on his head until the time is fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord. He will be holy, and he must let the locks of hair on his head grow long.
6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact a dead body. 7 He must not defile himself even for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die, because the separation for his God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he must be holy to the Lord.
9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he must shave his head on the day of his purification—on the seventh day he must shave it. 10 On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the entrance to the tent of meeting. 11 Then the priest will offer one for a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because of his transgression in regard to the corpse. So he must reconsecrate his head on that day. 12 He must rededicate to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a reparation offering, but the former days will not be counted because his separation was defiled.
13 “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he must be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and he must present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb in its first year without blemish for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish for a purification offering, one ram without blemish for a peace offering, 15 and a basket of bread made without yeast, cakes of fine flour mixed with olive oil, wafers made without yeast and smeared with olive oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings.
16 “‘Then the priest must present all these before the Lord and offer his purification offering and his burnt offering. 17 Then he must offer the ram as a peace offering to the Lord along with the basket of bread made without yeast; the priest must also offer his grain offering and his drink offering.
18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire where the peace offering is burning. 19 And the priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one cake made without yeast from the basket, and one wafer made without yeast, and put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head; 20 then the priest must wave them as a wave offering before the Lord; it is a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the raised offering. After this the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 “‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord his offering according to his separation, as well as whatever else he can provide. Thus he must fulfill his vow that he makes, according to the law of his separation.’”
22 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 “The Lord bless you and protect you;
25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace.”’
27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
1 I relied completely on the Lord,
and he turned toward me
and heard my cry for help.
2 He lifted me out of the watery pit,
out of the slimy mud.
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing.
3 He gave me reason to sing a new song,
praising our God.
May many see what God has done,
so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord.
4 How blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord
and does not seek help from the proud or from liars.
5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us.
No one can thwart you.
I want to declare your deeds and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount.
6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern.
You make that quite clear to me.
You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.
7 Then I say,
“Look, I come!
What is written in the scroll pertains to me.
8 I want to do what pleases you, my God.
Your law dominates my thoughts.”
9 I have told the great assembly about your justice.
Look, I spare no words.
O Lord, you know this is true.
10 I have not failed to tell about your justice;
I spoke about your reliability and deliverance.
I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness.
11 O Lord, you do not withhold your compassion from me.
May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me!
12 For innumerable dangers surround me.
My sins overtake me
so I am unable to see;
they outnumber the hairs of my head
so my strength fails me.
13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!
O Lord, hurry and help me!
14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed.
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.
15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be humiliated and disgraced.
16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience your deliverance say continually,
“May the Lord be praised!”
17 I am oppressed and needy.
May the Lord pay attention to me.
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
1 How blessed is the one who treats the poor properly.
When trouble comes, may the Lord deliver him.
2 May the Lord protect him and save his life.
May he be blessed in the land.
Do not turn him over to his enemies.
3 The Lord supports him on his sickbed;
you have healed him from his illness.
4 As for me, I said:
“O Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.
5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me,
‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’
6 When someone comes to visit, he pretends to be friendly;
he thinks of ways to defame me,
and when he leaves he slanders me.
7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another;
they plan ways to harm me.
8 They say,
‘An awful disease overwhelms him,
and now that he is bedridden he will never recover.’
9 Even my close friend whom I trusted,
he who shared meals with me, has turned against me.
10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,
so I can pay them back!”
11 By this I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 As for me, you uphold me because of my integrity;
you allow me permanent access to your presence.
13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise
in the future and forevermore.
We agree! We agree!
1 Oh, you are beautiful, my darling!
Oh, you are beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are like doves.
Your hair is like a flock of female goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from the washing place;
each of them has a twin,
and not one of them is missing.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread;
your mouth is lovely.
Your forehead behind your veil
is like a slice of pomegranate.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David
built with courses of stones;
one thousand shields are hung on it—
all shields of valiant warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of the gazelle
grazing among the lilies.
6 Until the dawn arrives
and the shadows flee,
I will go up to the mountain of myrrh,
and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling!
There is no blemish in you!
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of the leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride!
You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine;
the fragrance of your perfume is better than any spice!
11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride,
honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 You are a locked garden, my sister, my bride;
you are an enclosed spring, a sealed-up fountain.
13 Your shoots are a royal garden full of pomegranates
with choice fruits:
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice,
myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.
15 You are a garden spring,
a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind!
Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell.
May my beloved come into his garden
and eat its delightful fruit!
1 Therefore we must be wary that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” And yet God’s works were accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” 5 but to repeat the text cited earlier: “They will never enter my rest!” 6 Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience. 7 So God again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David after so long a time, as in the words quoted before, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken afterward about another day. 9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.
