Numbers 30

1 Moses/I spoke with the leaders of the Israeli tribes. He/I told them these commands that Yahweh had given to him/me:

And he said to the leaders of the tribes of the sons of Israel: “This is the word, which the Lord has instructed:

2 “If a man solemnly promises Yahweh that he will do something, he must do what he promised.

If any man makes a vow to the Lord, or binds himself by an oath, he shall not make his word null and void, but all that he has promised, he shall fulfill.

3 “If a young woman who is still living with her parents solemnly promises to Yahweh to do something,

If a woman, who is in her father’s house, vows anything, or binds herself by an oath, and she is still in a state of childhood, if her father knew of the vow which she has promised or of the oath by which she has obligated her soul, and he kept silent, she shall be liable to the vow:

4 and if her father hears about what she promised, and if he does not object, she must do what she promised [DOU].

whatever she has promised or swore, she shall complete in deed.

5 But if her father hears about what she promised and does not allow her to do that, then she does not need to do what she promised. Yahweh will forgive her for not doing what she promised.

But if her father, as soon as he had heard it, had contradicted it, both her vows and her oaths shall be nullified, neither shall she be held liable to the promise, because her father had contradicted it.

6 “If a woman promises Yahweh that she will do something, but then she gets married,

If she has a husband, and she has vowed anything, then, once the word has gone out of her mouth, she will have obligated her soul by an oath.

7 if her husband hears about what she promised to do, and he does not object, she must do what she promised [DOU].

On the day that her husband will hear of it, and yet not contradict it, she shall be liable to the vow, and she shall repay whatever she has promised.

8 But if her husband hears about it and does not allow her to do that, she does not need to do what she promised, and Yahweh will forgive her for not doing what she promised.

But if, as soon as he hears it, he contradicts it, then he will have caused her promises, and the words by which she had bound her soul, to be null and void. The Lord will be favorable to her.

9 “If a widow or a woman who has been divorced makes a promise, she must do what she promised.

Widows and divorced women shall repay whatever they have vowed.

10 “If a woman who is married promises [DOU] to do something,

If a wife in the house of her husband has bound herself by a vow or an oath,

11 and if her husband hears about it but does not object, she must do what she promised.

if her husband heard it and remained silent, and he did not contradict the promise, she shall repay what she had promised.

12 But if he hears about it and does not allow her to do that, she does not need to do what she promised, and Yahweh will forgive her for not doing it.

But if he promptly contradicts it, she shall not be held liable to the promise. For her husband has contradicted it. And the Lord will be favorable to her.

13 A woman’s husband may require her to do what she has promised, or he may not allow her to do what she has promised.

If she has vowed or bound herself by oath, in order to afflict her soul by fasting, or by abstaining from other things, it shall be for the arbitration of her husband, as to whether or not she may do it.

14 If he does not object for several days [after he hears about it], she must do what she promised.

But if the husband, upon hearing it, remains silent, and he delays judgment until another day, whatever she had vowed or promised, she shall repay, because when he first heard it, he remained silent.

15 But if he waits a long time after she has promised to do something and then he tells her that he will not permit her to do it, if she does not do what she promised, [she will not be punished]; her husband is the one whom [Yahweh] will punish.”

And if he contradicted it only sometime after he had known about it, he shall bear his iniquity.”

16 Those are the rules that Yahweh gave to Moses/me for husbands and wives, and for young women who are still living with their parents.

These are the laws which the Lord has appointed to Moses, between a husband and a wife, between a father and a daughter, who is still in the state of childhood or who remains in her father’s house.