keeping your promise

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

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.

⁴In his sight, the malicious one has been reduced to nothing, but he glorifies those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his neighbor and does not deceive.

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.

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.

²⁰For whatever promises are of God are, in him, Yes. For this reason, too, through him: Amen to God for our glory.

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.

²⁵It is ruin for a man to devour what is holy, or, after making vows, to retract them.

²³Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope, without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.

¹⁴A man who boasts and does not fulfill his promises is like clouds and wind, when rain does not follow.

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.

¹²Now, therefore, swear to me by the Lord that in the same way that I have acted with mercy toward you, so also shall you act toward the house of my father. And may you give me a true sign ¹³that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all that is theirs, and that you may rescue our souls from death.” ¹⁴They responded to her: “May our lives be yours unto death, if only you do not betray us. And when the Lord will have delivered the land to us, we will act toward you with mercy and truth.”

¹²And when daylight arrived, some of the Jews gathered together and bound themselves with an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³Now there were more than forty men who had taken this oath together. ¹⁴And they approached the leaders of the priests, and the elders, and they said: “We have sworn ourselves by an oath, so that we will taste nothing, until we have killed Paul.

⁵⁶“Blessed is the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel, in accord with all that he said. Not even one word, out of all the good things that he spoke by his servant Moses, has fallen away.