Numbers 30  New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Vows Made by Women

30 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the Israelites, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. ² When a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.^(A)

³ “When a woman makes a vow to the Lord or binds herself by a pledge while within her father’s house, in her youth, ⁴ and her father hears of her vow or her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and any pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵ But if her father overrules her at the time that he hears of it, no vow of hers and no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand, and the Lord will forgive her because her father overruled her.^(B)

⁶ “If she marries, while obligated by her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself,^{(C) 7} and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her at the time that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁸ But if, at the time that her husband hears of it, he overrules her, then he shall nullify the vow by which she was obligated or the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself, and the Lord will forgive her.^{(D) 9} (But every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall be binding upon her.) ¹⁰ And if she made a vow in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath ¹¹ and her husband heard it and said nothing to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and any pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. ¹² But if her husband nullifies them at the time that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge shall not stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will forgive her.^{(E) 13} Any vow or any binding oath to humble herself,^[a] her husband may allow to stand or her husband may nullify. ¹⁴ But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day,^[b] then he validates all her vows or all her pledges by which she is obligated; he has validated them because he said nothing to her at the time that he heard of them. ¹⁵ But if he nullifies them some time after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her guilt.”^(F)

¹⁶ These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses concerning a husband and his wife and a father and his daughter while she is still young and in her father’s house.^(G)