³¹ I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

¹⁸ But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest.^[a]

²⁸ Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they^[a] worshiped the Lord there.

¹¹ And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.^[a]”

¹⁸ When you are bringing an offering to fulfill a vow, you must not bring to the house of the Lord your God any offering from the earnings of a prostitute, whether a man^[a] or a woman, for both are detestable to the Lord your God.

²⁸ “However, anything specially set apart for the Lord—whether a person, an animal, or family property—must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the Lord. ²⁹ No person specially set apart for destruction may be bought back. Such a person must be put to death.

¹¹ If your vow involves an unclean animal—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the Lord—then you must bring the animal to the priest. ¹² He will assess its value, and his assessment will be final, whether high or low.

⁴⁴ “Yes, Jonathan,” Saul said, “you must die! May God strike me and even kill me if you do not die for this.”