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Venerdi, 29 marzo 2024 - Santi Simplicio e Costantino ( Letture di oggi)

Numbers 6


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1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,2'Speak to the Israelites and say: "If a man or a woman wishes to make a vow, the nazirite vow, to vowhimself to Yahweh,3he wil abstain from wine and fermented liquor, he will not drink vinegar derived from one or the other,he wil not drink grape-juice or eat grapes, be they fresh or dried.4For the duration of his vow he wil eat nothing that comes from the vine, not even juice of unripe grapesor skins of grapes.5As long as he is bound by his vow, no razor wil touch his head; until the time for which he has vowedhimself to Yahweh is completed, he remains consecrated and will let his hair grow freely.6For the entire period of his vow to Yahweh, he wil not go near a corpse,7he wil not make himself unclean for his father or his mother, or his brother or his sister, should theydie, since on his head he carries his vow to his God.8Throughout the whole of his vow he is a person consecrated to Yahweh.9"If anyone suddenly dies near him, making his vowed hair unclean, he wil shave his head on the dayhe is purified, he wil shave his head on the seventh day.10On the eighth day, he wil bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, at the entrance tothe Tent of Meeting.11The priest wil offer one as a sacrifice for sin, and the other as a burnt offering and wil then performfor the person the rite of expiation for the pollution which he has contracted from the corpse. He wil consecratehis head that same day;12he wil vow himself to Yahweh for the period of his nazirate, and wil bring a male yearling lamb as asacrifice of reparation. The time already spent wil not count, since his hair had become unclean.13"This is the ritual for the nazirite on the day when the period of his vow is completed. He will be led tothe entrance of the Tent of Meeting,14bringing his offering to Yahweh: an unblemished male yearling lamb as a burnt offering, anunblemished yearling ewe lamb as a sacrifice for sin, an unblemished ram as a peace offering,15and a basket of unleavened loaves made of fine flour mixed with oil, and of unleavened wafersspread with oil, with the cereal offerings and libations appropriate to them.16The priest, having brought al this before Yahweh, wil offer the nazirite's sin sacrifice and burntoffering.17The latter wil then offer the ram as a communion sacrifice with the basket of unleavened bread, andthe priest wil offer the accompanying cereal offering and libation.18The nazirite wil then shave off his vowed hair at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and, taking thelocks of his vowed head, he wil put them in the fire of the communion sacrifice.19The priest wil take the shoulder of the ram, as soon as it is cooked, with an unleavened cake fromthe basket, and an unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands of the nazirite once he has shaved off hishair.20With these he wil make the gesture of offering before Yahweh; as it is a holy thing, it reverts to thepriest, in addition to the forequarter that has been presented and the thigh that has been set aside. After this, thenazirite may drink wine.21"Such is the ritual for the nazirite. If, besides his hair, he has also vowed a personal offering toYahweh, he will (apart from anything else that his means al ow) fulfil the vow that he has made, in addition towhat the ritual prescribes for his hair." '22Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,23'Speak to Aaron and his sons and say: "This is how you must bless the Israelites. You wil say:24May Yahweh bless you and keep you.25May Yahweh let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.26May Yahweh show you his face and bring you peace."27This is how they must cal down my name on the Israelites, and then I shal bless them.'