¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: Any man of the house of Israel or of the foreign residents^(A) in Israel who presents his offering^(B)—whether they present freewill gifts or payment of vows to the Lord as burnt offerings— ¹⁹ must offer an unblemished male^(C) from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for you to be accepted. ²⁰ You are not to present anything that has a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

²¹ “When a man presents a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or flock, it has to be unblemished to be acceptable; there must be no defect in it. ²² You are not to present any animal to the Lord that is blind, injured, maimed, or has a running sore, festering rash,^(D) or scabs; you may not put any of them on the altar as a fire offering to the Lord.^{(E) 23} You may sacrifice as a freewill offering any animal from the herd or flock that has an elongated or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable as a vow offering. ²⁴ You are not to present to the Lord anything that has bruised, crushed, torn, or severed testicles;^(F) you must not sacrifice them in your land. ²⁵ Neither you nor^[a] a foreigner are to present food to your God from any of these animals. They will not be accepted for you because they are deformed and have a defect.”^(G)

⁹ “If the vow involves one of the animals that may be brought as an offering to the Lord, any of these he gives to the Lord will be holy. ¹⁰ He may not replace it or make a substitution for it, either good for bad, or bad for good.^(A) But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy.

² When a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to put himself under an obligation, he must not break his word; he must do whatever he has promised.^(A)

Keeping Vows

²¹ “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will require it of you, and it will be counted against you as sin. ²² But if you refrain from making a vow, it will not be counted against you as sin. ²³ Be careful to do whatever comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed what you promised^[a] to the Lord your God.^(A)

⁴ When you make a vow to God,^(A) don’t delay fulfilling it, because He does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow. ⁵ Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.^{(B) 6} Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you,^(C) and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake.^(D) Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷ For many dreams bring futility, so do many words.^(E) Therefore, fear God.