1And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel , saying , This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded . 2If 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 . 3If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD , and bind herself by a bond , being in her father’s house in her youth ; 4And 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 . 5But 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.
The Role of Authority in Vows
6And if she had at all an husband , when she vowed , or uttered ought out of her lips , wherewith she bound her soul ; 7And 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 . 8But 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. 9But every vow of a widow , and of her that is divorced , wherewith they have bound their souls , shall stand against her. 10And if she vowed in her husband’s house , or bound her soul by a bond with an oath ; 11And 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 . 12But 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.
The Consequences of Vows
13Every vow , and every binding oath to afflict the soul , her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void . 14But 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 . 15But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity . 16These 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 .