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 Moses speaks to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This [is] the thing which YHWH has commanded:

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

When a man vows a vow to YHWH, or has sworn an oath to bind a bond on his soul, he does not defile his word; he does according to all that is going out from his mouth.

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

And when a woman vows a vow to YHWH, and has bound a bond in the house of her father in her youth,

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

and her father has heard her vow and her bond which she has bound on her soul, and her father has kept silent to her, then all her vows have been established, and every bond which she has bound on her soul is established.

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.

And if her father has disallowed her in the day of his hearing, none of her vows and her bonds which she has bound on her soul are established, and YHWH is propitious to her, for her father has disallowed her.

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

And if she is having a husband, and her vows [are] on her, or a wrongful utterance [on] her lips which she has bound on her soul,

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

and her husband has heard, and in the day of his hearing he has kept silent to her, then her vows have been established, and her bonds which she has bound on her soul are established.

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.

And if in the day of her husband’s hearing he disallows her, then he has broken her vow which [is] on her, and the wrongful utterance of her lips which she has bound on her soul, and YHWH is propitious to her.

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

As for the vow of a widow or cast-out woman, all that she has bound on her soul is established on her.

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

And if she has vowed [in] the house of her husband, or has bound a bond on her soul with an oath,

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

and her husband has heard, and has kept silent to her—he has not disallowed her—then all her vows have been established, and every bond which she has bound on her soul is established.

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.

And if her husband certainly breaks them in the day of his hearing, none of the outgoing of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, is established—her husband has broken them—and YHWH is propitious 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.

Every vow and every oath—a bond to humble a soul—her husband establishes it, or her husband breaks it;

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

and if her husband certainly keeps silent to her from day to day, then he has established all her vows or all her bonds which [are] on her; he has established them, for he has kept silent to her in the day of his hearing;

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 indeed breaks them after his hearing, then he has borne her 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 statutes which YHWH has commanded Moses between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, in her youth, [in] the house of her father.