Dual PanelVows and Promises
1Moses spoke with all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and told them about these commands from the LORD:
2“If a man makes a vow to the LORD or makes a promise with an oath, he must not break his promise. He must do everything he said he would do.
3“A young woman might still be living in her father’s house. She might make a vow to the LORD or promise something with an oath.
4If her father hears about the vow or promise and says nothing against it, the young woman must do what she promised.
5But if her father hears about it and does not agree for her to do it, she is free from her vow or any promise she made. She does not have to do what she said. Her father stopped her, so the LORD will forgive her.
6“A woman might make a vow, or she might make a promise with an oath without thinking enough about it. If she then gets married,
7and her husband hears about her vow or promise and says nothing against it, the woman must keep it. She must do whatever she said she would do.
8But if the husband hears about her vow or promise and does not agree for her to do it, the wife does not have to keep her vow or the careless promise she made with an oath. If her husband is against it, this ends her duty to keep it. So the LORD will forgive her.
9“But a woman who is a widow or divorced must keep any vow or promise she makes. She must do everything she said she would do.
10“A married woman living with her husband might make a vow or a promise with an oath.
11If her husband hears about it and says nothing against it, she must keep any vow or promise she made. She must do everything she said she would do.
12But if her husband hears about her vows or promises and refuses to let her keep them, she does not have to keep them. It doesn’t matter what she promised to do; if her husband is against it, this ends her duty to do it. And the LORD will forgive her.
13When a married woman makes a vow or promises to do without something, her husband can allow her to keep her vows or promises, or he can stop her from keeping them.
14If he hears about them and does not stop them, he is allowing her to keep them. She must then do everything she said she would do. By saying nothing against her vows or promises the husband agreed for her to keep them.
15But if the husband says nothing when he hears about them, but then later stops her from keeping them, he is the one responsible for breaking her promises.”
16These are the commands the LORD gave to Moses. These are the commands about a man and his wife, and about a father and his daughter who is still young and living at home in her father’s house.