Vows
In Hebrew texts 30:1-16 is numbered 30:2-17. 1Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: “This is what the Lord commands: 2When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.
3“When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge 4and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. 5But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.
6“If she marries after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself 7and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. 8But if her husband forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her.
9“Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.
10“If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath 11and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. 12But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will release her. 13Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself.30:13 Or to fast 14But if her husband says nothing to her about it from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or the pledges binding on her. He confirms them by saying nothing to her when he hears about them. 15If, however, he nullifies them some time after he hears about them, then he must bear the consequences of her wrongdoing.”
16These are the regulations the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and his young daughter still living at home.
Special Promises
1Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of Israel. He said, “Here is what the Lord commands. 2Suppose a man makes a special promise to the Lord. Or suppose he gives his word to do something. Then he must keep his promise. He must do everything he said he would do.
3“Suppose a young woman is still living in her father’s house. She makes a special promise to the Lord. Or she gives her word to do something. 4Suppose her father hears about her promise. And he doesn’t say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. 5But suppose her father doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised or agreed to do. The Lord will set her free. He’ll do it because her father hasn’t allowed her to keep her promises.
6“Suppose she gets married after she makes a special promise. Or she gets married after agreeing to do something without thinking it through. 7Suppose her husband hears about what she did. And he doesn’t say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. 8But suppose her husband doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised. She doesn’t have to do what she agreed to do without thinking it through. The Lord will set her free.
9“Suppose a widow makes a special promise. Or suppose she gives her word to do something. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. The same rules apply to a woman who has been divorced.
10“Suppose a woman living with her husband makes a special promise. Or she gives her word to do something. 11Suppose her husband hears about what she did. He doesn’t say anything to her about it. And he doesn’t try to stop her from keeping her promises. Then she must keep all of them. She must do what she agreed to do. 12But suppose her husband doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised. She doesn’t have to do what she agreed to do. Her husband has kept her from doing what she said she would do. The Lord will set her free. 13Her husband can let her keep any special promise she makes. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. Suppose she gives her word not to eat anything. Then her husband can let her keep her promise. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. 14But suppose day after day her husband doesn’t say anything to her about what she did. Then he lets her keep all her promises. He lets her do everything she agreed to do. That’s because he didn’t say anything to her when he heard about what she had done. 15But suppose some time after he hears about her promises he doesn’t let her keep them. Then she will be guilty. But he will bear the consequences for her guilt.”
16These are the rules the Lord gave Moses about a man and his wife. And these are the rules the Lord gave about a father and his young daughter still living at home.
