breaking a vow

⁴And it is much better not to make a vow, than, after a vow, not to fulfill what was promised. ⁵You should not use your mouth so as to cause your flesh to sin. And you should not say, in the sight of an Angel, “There is no Providence.” For God, being angry at your words, may scatter all the works of your hands. ⁶Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities and innumerable words. Yet truly, you must fear God.

²¹When you have made a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not be late in paying it. For the Lord your God demands it. And if you delay, it shall be imputed to you as a sin. ²²If you are not willing to make a promise, then it shall be without sin. ²³But as soon as it has departed from your lips, you shall observe and do just as you have promised to the Lord your God and just as you have spoken by your own free will and with your own mouth.

²And he said to the leaders of the tribes of the sons of Israel: “This is the word, which the Lord has instructed:

¹And Moses explained to the sons of Israel all that the Lord had commanded him. ²And he said to the leaders of the tribes of the sons of Israel: “This is the word, which the Lord has instructed: ³If any man makes a vow to the Lord, or binds himself by an oath, he shall not make his word null and void, but all that he has promised, he shall fulfill. ⁴If a woman, who is in her father’s house, vows anything, or binds herself by an oath, and she is still in a state of childhood, if her father knew of the vow which she has promised or of the oath by which she has obligated her soul, and he kept silent, she shall be liable to the vow: ⁵whatever she has promised or swore, she shall complete in deed. ⁶But if her father, as soon as he had heard it, had contradicted it, both her vows and her oaths shall be nullified, neither shall she be held liable to the promise, because her father had contradicted it.

¹²But before all things, my brothers, do not choose to swear, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor in any other oath. But let your word ‘Yes’ be yes, and your word ‘No’ be no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

³⁷But let your word ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ For anything beyond that is of evil.

³⁴But I say to you, do not swear an oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵nor by earth, for it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. ³⁶Neither shall you swear an oath by your own head, because you are not able to cause one hair to become white or black. ³⁷But let your word ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ For anything beyond that is of evil.

⁹If we confess our sins, then he is faithful and just, so as to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.

¹⁸Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. And whoever marries her who has been divorced by her husband commits adultery.

³³Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients: ‘You shall not swear falsely. For you shall repay your oaths to the Lord.’ ³⁴But I say to you, do not swear an oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵nor by earth, for it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. ³⁶Neither shall you swear an oath by your own head, because you are not able to cause one hair to become white or black. ³⁷But let your word ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ For anything beyond that is of evil.

⁴The soul who swears and offers from his own lips that he would do either evil or good, and who will have bound the same with an oath and with his own words, and, having forgotten it, afterwards understands his transgression, ⁵let him do penance for his sin,

¹And Moses explained to the sons of Israel all that the Lord had commanded him. ²And he said to the leaders of the tribes of the sons of Israel: “This is the word, which the Lord has instructed: