Numbers 30

Vows Must Be Kept

1Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the Israelites, saying, “This is the thing that the LORD has commanded: 2If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. According to all that comes out of his mouth, he shall do.

A Daughter’s Vow in Her Father’s House

3“If a woman makes a vow to the LORD and binds herself by a pledge while she is young in her father’s house, 4and her father hears her vow and the pledge by which she has bound herself, and her father is silent toward her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5But if her father forbids her on the day he hears, none of her vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. The LORD will forgive her because her father forbade her.

A Married Woman’s Earlier Vow

6“If she marries while her vows are upon her, or a rash utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7and her husband hears of it and is silent toward her on the day he hears, then her vows shall stand, and the pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8But if her husband forbids her on the day he hears, he nullifies the vow that was upon her and the rash utterance of her lips by which she bound herself, and the LORD will forgive her.

A Widow or Divorced Woman

9“But the vow of a widow or a divorced woman—everything by which she has bound herself—shall stand against her.

A Vow Made Within Marriage

10“If she made a vow in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, 11and her husband heard it and was silent toward her and did not forbid her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. 12But if her husband clearly nullifies them on the day he hears, then whatever came from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will forgive her.

13Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may confirm or her husband may nullify. 14But if her husband remains silent toward her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He confirms them because he remained silent toward her on the day he heard them. 15But if he nullifies them after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.”

16These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning a man and his wife, and concerning a father and his daughter while she is young in her father’s house.