Vows

30 ^[a]Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel:^(A) “This is what the Lord commands: ² When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.^(B)

³ “When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge ⁴ and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand.^{(C) 5} But if her father forbids her^(D) when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.

⁶ “If she marries after she makes a vow^(E) or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself ⁷ and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. ⁸ But if her husband^(F) forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her.^(G)

⁹ “Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.

¹⁰ “If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath ¹¹ and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. ¹² But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand.^(H) Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will release her. ¹³ Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself.^{[b] 14} But if her husband says nothing to her about it from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or the pledges binding on her. He confirms them by saying nothing to her when he hears about them. ¹⁵ If, however, he nullifies them^(I) some time after he hears about them, then he must bear the consequences of her wrongdoing.”

¹⁶ These are the regulations the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and his young daughter still living at home.

Vengeance on the Midianites

31 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Take vengeance on the Midianites^(J) for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.^(K)”

³ So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the Lord’s vengeance^(L) on them. ⁴ Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” ⁵ So twelve thousand men armed for battle,^(M) a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. ⁶ Moses sent them into battle,^(N) a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas^(O) son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary^(P) and the trumpets^(Q) for signaling.

⁷ They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses,^(R) and killed every man.^{(S) 8} Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba^(T)—the five kings of Midian.^(U) They also killed Balaam son of Beor^(V) with the sword.^{(W) 9} The Israelites captured the Midianite women^(X) and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.^{(Y) 10} They burned^(Z) all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.^{(AA) 11} They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals,^{(AB) 12} and brought the captives, spoils^(AC) and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly^(AD) at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.^(AE)

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel^(A) of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.^(B) I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior^(C) has been born to you; he is the Messiah,^(D) the Lord.^{(E) 12} This will be a sign^(F) to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.^{(H) 17} When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.^{(I) 20} The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God^(J) for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.