1 T hen Moses said to the heads of the families of the sons of Israel, “This is what the Lord has said.

Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded:

2 I f a man makes a promise to the Lord, or swears that he will keep his promise, he must not break his word. He must do all that he said he would do.

If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

3 I f a woman makes a promise to the Lord, and swears to keep her promise in her father’s house when she is young,

“Or if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by some agreement while in her father’s house in her youth,

4 a nd if her father hears her promise and how she has sworn to keep it, and says nothing to her, then all her promises must be kept. She must keep every promise she has sworn to keep.

and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand.

5 B ut if her father does not allow her to keep her promise on the day he hears of it, then she does not need to keep any of the promises she has sworn to keep. The Lord will forgive her because her father would not allow it.

But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will release her, because her father overruled her.

6 “ If she gets married and has promises to keep because of what she swore without thinking,

“If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself,

7 a nd if her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears, then she must keep the promises she has sworn to keep.

and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand.

8 B ut if on the day he hears of it, her husband does not allow her to keep her promise, then she will not have to keep the promise that she had sworn to keep when she was not thinking. The Lord will forgive her.

But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the Lord will release her.

9 “ A woman whose husband has died or left her must keep the promises she has sworn to keep.

“Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.

10 B ut if she has made a promise in her husband’s house, and she has sworn to keep a promise there

“If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath,

11 a nd if her husband hears of it, and does not go against her or say anything to her, then she must keep all the promises she had sworn to keep.

and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand.

12 B ut if her husband does not allow her to keep her promises on the day he hears of them, then she does not have to keep the promises she had sworn to keep. If her husband will not let her keep them, the Lord will forgive her.

But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and the Lord will release her.

13 “ Her husband has the right to have her keep, or not keep, any promise she has sworn to keep.

Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void.

14 B ut if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then she must keep all her promises. He made her promises so they could not be changed, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard of them.

Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them.

15 B ut if he will not allow her to keep her promises after he has heard of them, then her guilt will be on him.”

But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.”

16 T hese are the Laws which the Lord told Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, while she is young and in her father’s house.

These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter in her youth in her father’s house.