vows

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

²⁷You will plead with him, and he will listen to you, and you will pay your vows.

¹²Make vows and pay them to the Lord, your God. All you who surround him bring gifts: to him who is terrible,

⁹So I will compose a psalm to your name, forever and ever, so that I may repay my vows from day to day.

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

¹¹And she made a vow, saying, “O Lord of hosts, if, in looking with favor, you will see the affliction of your servant and will remember me, and will not forget your handmaid, and if you will give to your servant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall pass over his head.”

⁶For you, my God, have listened to my prayer. You have granted an inheritance to those who fear your name.

¹But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a field, ²and he was deceitful about the price of the field, with his wife’s consent. And bringing only part of it, he placed it at the feet of the Apostles. ³But Peter said: “Ananias, why has Satan tempted your heart, so that you would lie to the Holy Spirit and be deceitful about the price of the land? ⁴Did it not belong to you while you retained it? And having sold it, was it not in your power? Why have you set this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God!” ⁵Then Ananias, upon hearing these words, fell down and expired. And a great fear overwhelmed all who heard of it. ⁶And the young men rose up and removed him; and carrying him out, they buried him.

¹³I will enter your house with holocausts. I will repay my vows to you,

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, ⁶and let him offer from the flocks a female lamb or a she-goat, and the priest shall pray for him and for his sin. ⁷But if he is not able to offer a beast, let him offer two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the Lord, one for sin, and the other for a holocaust. ⁸And he shall give them to the priest, who, offering the first for sin, shall twist back its head to the little wings, so that it adheres to the neck and is not entirely broken off. ⁹And he shall sprinkle some of its blood at the side of the altar. But whatever will remain, he shall cause it to drip down to the base, because it is for sin.