Oaths

³³ “Again ^(A)you have heard that it was said to those of old, ^(B)‘You shall not swear falsely, but ^(C)shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’

^21 (A)“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

^12 (A)You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so ^(B)profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

⁴ When ^(A)you vow a vow to God, ^(B)do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. ^(C)Pay what you vow. ^5 (D)It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. ⁶ Let not your mouth lead you^[a] into sin, and do not say before ^(E)the messenger^[b] that it was ^(F)a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

²³ You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.

^2 (A)If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or ^(B)swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. ^(C)He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Women and Vows

³ “If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father's house in her youth, ⁴ and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵ But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her.

⁶ “If she marries a husband, while under her ^(D)vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, ⁷ and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁸ But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her ^(E)vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. ^(F)And the Lord will forgive her. ⁹ (But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.) ¹⁰ And if she vowed in her husband's house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. ¹² But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and ^(G)the Lord will forgive her. ¹³ Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself,^[a] her husband may establish,^[b] or her husband may make void. ¹⁴ But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them. ¹⁵ But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then ^(H)he shall bear her iniquity.”

¹⁶ These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father's house.

¹⁶ “Woe to ^(A)you, ^(B)blind guides, who say, ^(C)‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or ^(D)the temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by ^(E)the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ^(F)the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by ^(G)him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by ^(H)heaven swears by ^(I)the throne of God and by ^(J)him who sits upon it.

¹¹ “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.