1 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the Lord has commanded.
2 When a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
3 "Also when a woman vows a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by a bond, being in her father's house, in her youth,
4 and her father hears her vow, and her bond with which she has bound her soul, and her father holds his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she has bound her soul shall stand.
5 But if her father disallow her in the day that he hears, none of her vows, or of her bonds with which she has bound her soul, shall stand: and the Lord will forgive her, because her father disallowed her.
6 "If she has a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul,
7 and her husband hears it, and holds his peace at her in the day that he hears it; then her vows shall stand, and her bonds with which she has bound her soul shall stand.
8 But if her husband forbids her in the day that he hears it, then he shall make void her vow which is on her, and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul: and the Lord will forgive her.
9 "But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has bound her soul, shall stand against her.
10 "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 did not disallow her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she bound her soul shall stand.
12 But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband has made them void; and the Lord will 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 holds his peace at her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows, or all her bonds, which are on her: he has established them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.
15 But if he shall make them null and void after that he has 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 a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father's house.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main subject of Numbers 30?
How could a father or husband affect a woman's vow in this chapter?
Did every woman's vow depend on a man's approval in this chapter?
Today's Verse
And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.
Verse Of The DayA young woman's or wife's vow can stand or be voided by her father or husband, but only if he objects the very day he hears of it, while a widow or divorced woman's vow always stands, a principle later reflected in Psalms 50:14. Midian's judgment follows in Numbers 31.
