Numbers 30
Easy-to-Read Version
Special Promises
30 Moses spoke with all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and told them about these commands from the Lord:
2 “If a man makes a special promise 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. And that young woman might make a special promise to give something to the Lord. 4 If her father hears about the promise and agrees, the young woman must do what she promised. 5 But if her father hears about the promise and does not agree, she is free from her promise. She does not have to do what she promised. Her father stopped her, so the Lord will forgive her.
6 “A woman might make a special promise to give something to the Lord and then get married. 7 If the husband hears about the promise and does not object, the woman must do what she promised. 8 But if the husband hears about the promise and refuses to let her keep her promise, the wife does not have to do what she promised. Her husband broke the promise—he did not let her do what she said. So the Lord will forgive her.
9 “A widow or a divorced woman might make a special promise. If she does, she must do exactly what she promised.
10 “A married woman might make a promise to give something to the Lord. 11 If her husband hears about the promise and lets her keep her promise, she must do exactly what she promised. She must give everything she promised. 12 But if her husband hears about the promise and refuses to let her keep the promise, she does not have to do what she promised. 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. 13 A married woman might promise to give something to the Lord, or she might promise to do without something,[a] or she might make some other special promise to God. The husband can stop any of these promises, and the husband can let her keep any of these promises. 14 How does the husband let his wife keep her promises? If he hears about the promises and does not stop them, the woman must do exactly what she promised. 15 But if the husband hears about the promises and stops them, he is responsible for breaking her promises.”[b]
16 These are the commands that 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.
Footnotes
- Numbers 30:13 do without something Literally, “humble her soul.” Usually this means to make the body suffer in some way, such as by not eating food.
- Numbers 30:15 he … her promises Literally, “he carries her guilt.”
Numbers 30
King James Version
30 And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded.
2 If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.
3 If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth;
4 And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.
5 But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.
6 And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;
7 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the Lord shall forgive her.
9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.
10 And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath;
11 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
12 But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the Lord shall forgive her.
13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.
14 But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.
15 But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity.
16 These are the statutes, which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father's house.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International