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The Law About Vows

30 And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying: This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself with a bond, he will not break his word. He will do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

If a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by a bond, while in her father’s house in her youth, and her father hears her vow and her bond with which she has bound herself, and her father is silent to her, then all her vows will stand, and every bond with which she has bound herself will stand. But if her father restrains her in the day he hears, none of her vows or her bonds with which she has bound herself will stand, and the Lord will forgive her, because her father restrained her.

If she had a husband when she vowed, or uttered anything out of her lips with which she bound herself, and her husband heard it and was silent to her in the day that he heard it, then her vows will stand, and her bonds with which she bound herself will stand. But if her husband restrains her on the day that he heard it, then he will make her vow which she vowed and that which she uttered with her lips, with which she bound herself, of no effect, and the Lord will forgive her.

But every vow of a widow and of her that is divorced, with which she has bound herself, will stand against her.

10 If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by a bond with an oath, 11 and her husband heard it and was silent to her and did not restrain her, then all her vows will stand, and every bond with which she bound herself will stand. 12 But if her husband has clearly voided them on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of herself, will not stand. Her husband has voided them, and the Lord will forgive her. 13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may establish, or her husband may nullify. 14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows, or all her pledges, which bind her. He confirms them because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard them. 15 But if he clearly makes them void after he has heard them, then he will bear her iniquity.

16 These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between the father and his daughter, while she is still young and in her father’s house.

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Laws for Vows

30 Then Moses spoke to the leaders[a] of the tribes concerning the Israelites,[b] saying, “This is the word that Yahweh commanded: if a man makes a vow for Yahweh or swears an oath with a binding pledge on himself, he must not render his word invalid; he must do all that went out from his mouth.

“If a woman makes a vow to Yahweh, and she binds a pledge on herself in her father’s house in your childhood, but if her father hears her vow or her pledge that she bound on herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows will stand, and every pledge that she binds on her life will stand. If her father forbids her on the day he hears of it, all her vows or her pledges that she bound on herself will not stand, and Yahweh will forgive her because her father has forgiven her.

“If she has a husband[c] while bound by her vows or a rash promise of her lips, and her husband hears of it and is silent on the day he hears it, her vows will stand, and her pledge that she bound upon herself will stand. But if on the day her husband hears of it, he forbids her, then he will nullify her vow that she is under, and the rash promise of her lips that she bound on herself; and Yahweh will forgive her.

“But the vow of a widow or a woman who is divorced, all that she binds on herself will stand on her. 10 But if she made a vow in her husband’s house, or bound herself on a pledge with a sworn oath, 11 and her husband heard it but was silent to her, and he did not forbid her, all her vows will stand and every pledge that she bound on herself will stand. 12 But if her husband nullified them on the day he hears them, all her vows going out of her lips concerning her vows or the pledge on herself will not stand; her husband has nullified them, and Yahweh will forgive her.

13 “Any vow and any sworn oath of a pledge to inflict on herself, her husband can confirm it or her husband can nullify it. 14 But if her husband is completely silent from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her pledges that are on her; he confirms them because he was silent to her on the day he heard them. 15 But if he indeed nullifies them after he hears them, then he will bear her guilt.”

16 These are the decrees that Yahweh commanded Moses, as between a husband and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, while her childhood is in her father’s house.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 30:1 Literally “the heads”
  2. Numbers 30:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Numbers 30:6 Literally “she is to a man”