New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the Israelites: This is what the Lord has commanded.
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And Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, This is the order of the Lord.
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.
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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.
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,
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If a woman, being young and under the authority of her father, takes an oath to the Lord or gives an undertaking;
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.
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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.
5 But if her father expresses disapproval to 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 had expressed to her his disapproval.
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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.
6 If she marries, while obligated by her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself,
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And if she is married to a husband at the time when she is under an oath or an undertaking given without thought;
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.
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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.
8 But if, at the time that her husband hears of it, he expresses disapproval to 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.
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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.
9 (But every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall be binding upon her.)
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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.
10 And if she made a vow in her husband's house, or bound herself by a pledge with an oath,
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If she made an oath while she was under the authority of her husband,
11 and her husband heard it and said nothing to her, and did not express disapproval to her, then all her vows shall stand, and any pledge by which she bound herself shall stand.
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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.
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 of herself, shall not stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will forgive her.
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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.
13 Any vow or any binding oath to deny herself, her husband may allow to stand, or her husband may nullify.
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Every oath, and every undertaking which she gives, to keep herself from pleasure, may be supported or broken by her husband.
14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, 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.
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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.
15 But if he nullifies them some time after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her guilt.
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But if at some time after hearing of them, he makes them without force, then he is responsible for her wrongdoing.
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.
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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.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.