Numbers 30

1 Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of the people of Israel. He said, “This is what Yahweh has commanded.

And Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, This is the order of the Lord.

2 When anyone makes a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind himself with a promise, he must not break his word. He must keep his promise to do everything that comes out of his mouth.

When a man takes an oath to the Lord, or gives an undertaking having the force of an oath, let him not go back from his word, but let him do whatever he has said he will do.

3 When a young woman living in her father's house makes a vow to Yahweh and binds herself with a promise,

If a woman, being young and under the authority of her father, takes an oath to the Lord or gives an undertaking;

4 if her father hears the vow and the promise by which she has bound herself, and if he says nothing to reverse her, then all her vows will remain in force. Every promise by which she has bound herself will remain in force.

If her father, hearing of her oath or the undertaking she has given, says nothing to her, then all her oaths and every undertaking she has given will have force.

5 But if her father hears about her vow and her promise, and if he says nothing to her, then all the vows and promises that she took on herself will remain in force.

But if her father, hearing of it, makes her take back her word, then the oaths or the undertakings she has given will have no force; and she will have forgiveness from the Lord, because her oath was broken by her father.

6 However, if her father hears all the vows she made and her solemn promises with which she has bound herself, and if he overrules her on that same day, then they will not remain in force. Yahweh will forgive her because her father had overruled her.

And if she is married to a husband at the time when she is under an oath or an undertaking given without thought;

7 If she marries a man while she is under those vows, or if she makes rash promises with which she obligates herself, those obligations will remain in force.

If her husband, hearing of it, says nothing to her at the time, then the oaths she made and the undertakings she gave will have force.

8 But if her husband stops her on the day that he hears about it, then he cancels the vow that she has made, the rash talk of her lips with which she has bound herself. Yahweh will release her.

But if her husband, hearing of it, makes her take it back, then the oath she made and the undertaking she gave without thought will have no force or effect, and she will have the Lord's forgiveness.

9 But as for a widow or a divorced woman, everything by which she has bound herself will remain in force against her.

But an oath made by a widow or one who is no longer married to her husband, and every undertaking she has given, will have force.

10 If a woman made a vow in her husband's house or obligates herself by taking an oath,

If she made an oath while she was under the authority of her husband,

11 and her husband hears of it, but he says nothing to her and he does oppose her, then all her vows must stand and the obligations she made must remain in force.

And her husband, hearing of it, said nothing to her and did not put a stop to it, then all her oaths and every undertaking she gave will have force.

12 But if her husband cancels them on the day that he heard about them, then whatever came out of her lips about her vows or promises will not remain in force. Her husband has canceled them. Yahweh will release her.

But if her husband, on hearing of it, made them without force or effect, then whatever she has said about her oaths or her undertaking has no force: her husband has made them without effect, and she will have the Lord's forgiveness.

13 Every vow or oath a woman takes that binds her to deny herself something may be confirmed or canceled by her husband.

Every oath, and every undertaking which she gives, to keep herself from pleasure, may be supported or broken by her husband.

14 But if he says nothing at all to her day after day, then he confirms all her vows and binding promises that she has made. He has confirmed them because he has said nothing to her at the time that he heard about them.

But if the days go on, and her husband says nothing whatever to her, then he is giving the support of his authority to her oaths and undertakings, because at the time of hearing them he said nothing to her.

15 If her husband tries to cancel his wife's vow a long time after he has heard about it, then he will be responsible for her sin.”

But if at some time after hearing of them, he makes them without force, then he is responsible for her wrongdoing.

16 These are the statutes that Yahweh commanded Moses to announce—statutes for what is between a man and his wife and between a father and his daughter when she is in her youth in her father's family.

These are the laws which the Lord gave Moses in relation to a man and his wife, or a father and a young daughter who is under his authority.