^2 [a]Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.

⁷ “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.

⁹ Pray like this:

⁷ Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.

² A man who makes a vow to the Lord or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do.

³ “If a young woman makes a vow to the Lord or a pledge under oath while she is still living at her father’s home, ⁴ and her father hears of the vow or pledge and does not object to it, then all her vows and pledges will stand. ⁵ But if her father refuses to let her fulfill the vow or pledge on the day he hears of it, then all her vows and pledges will become invalid. The Lord will forgive her because her father would not let her fulfill them.

² Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

³ Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.