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 he said to the princes of the tribes of the children of Israel: This is the word that the Lord hath commanded:

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.

If any man make a vow to the Lord, or bind himself by an oath: he shall not make his word void but shall fulfill all that he promised.

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 vow any thing, and bind herself by an oath, being in her father’s house, and but yet a girl in age: if her father knew the vow that she hath promised, and the oath wherewith she hath bound her soul, and held his peace, she shall be bound by the vow:

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.

Whatsoever she promised and swore, she shall fulfill in deed.

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, immediately as soon as he heard it, gainsaid it, both her vows and her oaths shall be void, neither shall she be bound to what she promised, because her father hath gainsaid it.

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.

If she have a husband, and shall vow any thing, and the word once going out of her mouth shall bind her soul by an oath:

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.

The day that her husband shall hear it, and not gainsay it, she shall be bound to the vow, and shall give whatsoever she promised.

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 as soon as he heareth he gainsay it, and make her promises and the words wherewith she had bound her soul of no effect: the Lord will forgive her.

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

The widow, and she that is divorced, shall fulfill whatsoever they vow.

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

If the wife in the house of her husband, hath bound herself by vow and by oath,

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.

If her husband hear, and hold his peace, and doth not disallow the promise, she shall accomplish whatsoever she had promised.

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 forthwith he gainsay it, she shall not be bound by the promise: because her husband gainsaid it, and the Lord will be merciful to her.

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

If she vow and bind herself by oath, to afflict her soul by fasting, or abstinence from other things, it shall depend on the will of her husband, whether she shall do it, or not do it.

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 husband hearing it hold his peace, and defer the declaring his mind till another day: whatsoever she had vowed and promised, she shall fulfill: because immediately as he heard it, he held his peace.

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 he gainsay it after that he knew it, he shall bear her iniquity.

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 appointed to Moses between the husband and the wife, between the father and the daughter that is as yet but a girl in age, or that abideth in her father’s house.