Rules About Special Promises

30 Moses spoke with the leaders of the ·Israelite tribes [^Ltribes of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel]. He told them these commands from the Lord.

² “If a man makes a ·promise [vow] to the Lord or ·says he will do something special [swears an oath to bind himself to an obligation], he must ·keep his promise [^Lnot break his word]. He must do what he said [Deut. 23:21; Ps. 50:14; Eccl. 5:4–5; Matt. 5:33–37]. ³ If a young woman still living at ·home [^Lthe house of her father] makes a ·promise [vow] to the Lord or ·pledges to do something special [binds herself to an obligation], ⁴ and if her father hears about the ·promise [vow] or ·pledge [obligation by which she has bound herself] and says nothing, ·she must do what she promised [^Lall her vows stand]. ·She must keep her pledge [^LAll her obligations to which she has bound herself will stand]. ⁵ But if her father hears about the ·promise [vow] or ·pledge [obligation by which she has bound herself] and ·does not allow it [disapproves], then the ·promise [vow] or ·pledge [obligation] does not ·have to be kept [^Lstand]. Her father ·would not allow it [disapproves], so the Lord will ·free her from her promise [^Lforgive her].

⁶ “If a woman ·makes a pledge [binds herself to an obligation] or speaks a ·careless [rash; thoughtless] ·promise [vow] and then gets married, ⁷ and if her husband hears about it and says nothing, ·she must keep her promise [^Lher vow stands] ·or the pledge she made [^Land the obligation by which she bound herself will stand]. ⁸ But if her husband hears about it and ·does not allow it [disapproves], he cancels her ·pledge [vow] or the ·careless [rash; thoughtless] ·promise [vow] ·she made [by which she bound herself]. The Lord will ·free her from keeping it [forgive her].

⁹ “If a widow or divorced woman makes a ·promise [vow], ·she must do whatever she promised [^Lall by which she bound herself stands].

¹⁰ “If a woman makes a ·promise [vow] or ·pledge [^Lbinds herself in an obligation] ·while she is married [^Lin the house of her husband], ¹¹ and if her husband hears about it but says nothing and does not ·stop her [disapprove], ·she must keep her promise [all her vows stand] ·or pledge [^Land all that to which she bound herself will stand]. ¹² But if her husband hears about it and cancels it, ·she does not have to do what she said [^Lher vow and all that which she bound herself do not stand]. Her husband has canceled it, so the Lord will ·free her from it [forgive her]. ¹³ A woman’s husband may make her keep or cancel any ·promise [vow] or ·pledge [obligation] she has made to ·deny [mortify] herself. ¹⁴ If he says nothing to her about it for several days, ·she must keep her promises [^Lher vows stand]. If he hears about them and says nothing, ·she must keep her promises [^Lthe obligations by which she bound herself will stand]. ¹⁵ But if he cancels them long after he heard about them, he ·is responsible if she breaks her promise [^Lwill bear her guilt].”

¹⁶ These are ·commands [statutes; ordinances; requirements] that the Lord gave to Moses for husbands and wives, and for fathers with ·daughters living at home [^Lhis daughters in her youth in the house of her father].