Rules about vows
1 Moses told the people of Israel exactly what Yahweh had commanded him.
2 Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of Israel. He said, ¡°This is what
Yah weh has commanded:
3 If a man makes a vow to give something to Yahweh or a solemn promise to
abstain from something, he must not break his promise: whatever he promises
by word of mouth he must do.
4 If a woman makes a vow to give something to the Lord or a solemn promise
to abstain from something while she is still young and lives in her father¡¯s
house,
5 and if he hears about this vow or promise made by her and says nothing to
her about it, she must do whatever she has promised.
6 But if the father on the day he learns of it expresses his disapproval of
it, then she is not required to keep her promise. Yahweh will not hold her
to her promise, since her father has expressed his disapproval.
7-8 If a woman makes a vow before being married or makes a solemn promise to
abstain from something, either deliberately or without giving it much
thought, she must do everything she vowed even after she marries if her
husband learns of it and says nothing about it.
9 But if on the day he learns of it he expresses his disapproval to her, she
is not required to keep her promise. Yahweh will not hold her to it.
10 Any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, or any pledge to which she
binds herself is valid.
11 If she has made a vow or a solemn promise to abstain from something while
in her hus band¡¯s house,
12 and if when the husband learns of it he says nothing to her and does not
express disapproval to her, then she must do whatever she has vowed or
solemnly promised to abstain from.
13 But if the husband forbids it on the day he learns of it, she is not
required to do whatever she has vowed or solemnly promised. Yahweh will not
hold her to it.
14 Any vow or solemn promise to ab stain from something that the wife makes,
must be allowed or forbidden by the husband.
15 If by the following day the husband has said nothing to her, it means
that he approves or allows her vow, whatever it may be, or her solemn
promise, whatever it may be. He confirms the vows of his wife by saying
nothing on the day he learns of them.
16 But if he forbids them a long time after he learned of them, then he must
suffer what results from the wife¡¯s failure to ful fill the vow or solemn
promise.¡±
17 These are the laws given by Yahweh to Moses, concerning the relationship
between man and wife, and between a father and his daughter while still
young and living in her father¡¯s home.