Special Promises

30 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of Israel. He said, “Here is what the Lord commands. ² Suppose a man makes a special promise to the Lord. Or suppose he gives his word to do something. Then he must keep his promise. He must do everything he said he would do.

³ “Suppose a young woman is still living in her father’s house. She makes a special promise to the Lord. Or she gives her word to do something. ⁴ Suppose her father hears about her promise. And he doesn’t say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. ⁵ But suppose her father doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised or agreed to do. The Lord will set her free. He’ll do it because her father hasn’t allowed her to keep her promises.

⁶ “Suppose she gets married after she makes a special promise. Or she gets married after agreeing to do something without thinking it through. ⁷ Suppose her husband hears about what she did. And he doesn’t say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. ⁸ But suppose her husband doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised. She doesn’t have to do what she agreed to do without thinking it through. The Lord will set her free.

⁹ “Suppose a widow makes a special promise. Or suppose she gives her word to do something. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. The same rules apply to a woman who has been divorced.

¹⁰ “Suppose a woman living with her husband makes a special promise. Or she gives her word to do something. ¹¹ Suppose her husband hears about what she did. He doesn’t say anything to her about it. And he doesn’t try to stop her from keeping her promises. Then she must keep all of them. She must do what she agreed to do. ¹² But suppose her husband doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised. She doesn’t have to do what she agreed to do. Her husband has kept her from doing what she said she would do. The Lord will set her free. ¹³ Her husband can let her keep any special promise she makes. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. Suppose she gives her word not to eat anything. Then her husband can let her keep her promise. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. ¹⁴ But suppose day after day her husband doesn’t say anything to her about what she did. Then he lets her keep all her promises. He lets her do everything she agreed to do. That’s because he didn’t say anything to her when he heard about what she had done. ¹⁵ But suppose some time after he hears about her promises he doesn’t let her keep them. Then she will be guilty. But he will bear the consequences for her guilt.”

¹⁶ These are the rules the Lord gave Moses about a man and his wife. And these are the rules the Lord gave about a father and his young daughter still living at home.

The Day of the Lord

3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders. I want to encourage you to think in a way that is pure. ² I want you to remember the words the holy prophets spoke in the past. Remember the command our Lord and Savior gave through your apostles.

³ Most of all, here is what you must understand. In the last days people will make fun of the truth. They will laugh at it. They will follow their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘return’ he promised? Everything goes on in the same way it has since our people of long ago died. In fact, it has continued this way since God first created everything.” ⁵ Long ago, God’s word brought the heavens into being. His word separated the earth from the waters. And the waters surrounded it. But these people forget things like that on purpose. ⁶ The waters also flooded the world of that time. And so they destroyed the world. ⁷ By God’s word the heavens and earth of today are being reserved for fire. They are being kept for the day when God will judge. Then ungodly people will be destroyed.

⁸ Dear friends, here is one thing you must not forget. With the Lord a day is like a thousand years. And a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to keep his promise. He is not slow in the way some people understand it. Instead, he is patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed. Instead, he wants all people to turn away from their sins.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar. Fire will destroy everything in them. God will judge the earth and everything done in it.

¹¹ So everything will be destroyed in this way. And what kind of people should you be? You should lead holy and godly lives. ¹² Live like this as you look forward to the day of God. Living like this will make the day come more quickly. On that day fire will destroy the heavens. Its heat will melt everything in them. ¹³ But we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth. Godliness will live there. All this is in keeping with God’s promise.

¹⁴ Dear friends, I know you are looking forward to this. So try your best to be found pure and without blame. Be at peace with God. ¹⁵ Remember that while our Lord is waiting patiently to return, people are being saved. Our dear brother Paul also wrote to you about this. God made him wise to write as he did. ¹⁶ Paul writes the same way in all his letters. He speaks about what I have just told you. His letters include some things that are hard to understand. People who don’t know better and aren’t firm in the faith twist what he says. They twist the other Scriptures too. So they will be destroyed.

¹⁷ Dear friends, you have already been warned about this. So be on your guard. Then you won’t be led astray by people who don’t obey the law. Instead, you will remain safe. ¹⁸ Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Glory belongs to him both now and forever. Amen.