The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, This is the order of the Lord.
1
Moses gave the following instructions to the leaders of the tribes of Israel.
2 When a man takes an oath to the Lord, or gives an undertaking having the force of an oath, let him not go back from his word, but let him do whatever he has said he will do.
2
When a man makes a vow to give something to the Lord or takes an oath to abstain from something, he must not break his promise, but must do everything that he said he would.
3 If a woman, being young and under the authority of her father, takes an oath to the Lord or gives an undertaking;
3
When a young woman still living in her father's house makes a vow to give something to the Lord or promises to abstain from something,
4 If her father, hearing of her oath or the undertaking she has given, says nothing to her, then all her oaths and every undertaking she has given will have force.
4
she must do everything that she vowed or promised unless her father raises an objection when he hears about it.
5 But if her father, hearing of it, makes her take back her word, then the oaths or the undertakings she has given will have no force; and she will have forgiveness from the Lord, because her oath was broken by her father.
5
But if her father forbids her to fulfill the vow when he hears about it, she is not required to keep it. The Lord will forgive her, because her father refused to let her keep it.
6 And if she is married to a husband at the time when she is under an oath or an undertaking given without thought;
6
If an unmarried woman makes a vow, whether deliberately or carelessly, or promises to abstain from something, and then marries,
7 If her husband, hearing of it, says nothing to her at the time, then the oaths she made and the undertakings she gave will have force.
7
she must do everything that she vowed or promised unless her husband raises an objection when he hears about it.
8 But if her husband, hearing of it, makes her take it back, then the oath she made and the undertaking she gave without thought will have no force or effect, and she will have the Lord's forgiveness.
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But if her husband forbids her to fulfill the vow when he hears about it, she is not required to keep it. The Lord will forgive her.
9 But an oath made by a widow or one who is no longer married to her husband, and every undertaking she has given, will have force.
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A widow or a divorced woman must keep every vow she makes and every promise to abstain from something.
10 If she made an oath while she was under the authority of her husband,
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If a married woman makes a vow or promises to abstain from something,
11 And her husband, hearing of it, said nothing to her and did not put a stop to it, then all her oaths and every undertaking she gave will have force.
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she must do everything that she vowed or promised unless her husband raises an objection when he hears about it.
12 But if her husband, on hearing of it, made them without force or effect, then whatever she has said about her oaths or her undertaking has no force: her husband has made them without effect, and she will have the Lord's forgiveness.
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But if her husband forbids her to fulfill the vow when he hears about it, she is not required to keep it. The Lord will forgive her, because her husband prevented her from keeping her vow.
13 Every oath, and every undertaking which she gives, to keep herself from pleasure, may be supported or broken by her husband.
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Her husband has the right to affirm or to annul any vow or promise that she has made.
14 But if the days go on, and her husband says nothing whatever to her, then he is giving the support of his authority to her oaths and undertakings, because at the time of hearing them he said nothing to her.
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But if, by the day after he hears of the vow, he has raised no objection, she must do everything that she has vowed or promised. He has affirmed the vow by not objecting on the day he heard of it.
15 But if at some time after hearing of them, he makes them without force, then he is responsible for her wrongdoing.
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But if he later annuls the vow, he must suffer the consequences for the failure to fulfill the vow.
16 These are the laws which the Lord gave Moses in relation to a man and his wife, or a father and a young daughter who is under his authority.
16
These are the rules that the Lord gave Moses concerning vows made by an unmarried woman living in her father's house or by a married woman.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.