¹ 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 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 If a woman, being young and under the authority of her father, takes an oath to the Lord or gives an undertaking;

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.

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.

⁶ And if she is married to a husband at the time when she is under an oath or an undertaking given without thought;

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.

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.

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.

¹⁰ If she made an oath while she was under the authority of her husband,

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.

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.

¹³ Every oath, and every undertaking which she gives, to keep herself from pleasure, may be supported or broken by her husband.

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.

¹⁵ 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 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.

¹ (A Psalm. Of Asaph.) The God of gods, even the Lord, has sent out his voice, and the earth is full of fear; from the coming up of the sun to its going down.

² From Zion, most beautiful of places, God has sent out his light.

³ Our God will come, and will not keep quiet; with fire burning before him, and storm-winds round him.

⁴ His voice will go out to the heavens and to the earth, for the judging of his people:

⁵ Let my saints come together to me; those who have made an agreement with me by offerings.

⁶ And let the heavens make clear his righteousness; for God himself is the judge. (Selah.)

⁷ Give ear, O my people, to my words; O Israel, I will be a witness against you; I am God, even your God.

⁸ I will not take up a cause against you because of your offerings, or because of your burned offerings, which are ever before me.

⁹ I will take no ox out of your house, or he-goats from your flocks;

¹⁰ For every beast of the woodland is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹ I see all the birds of the mountains, and the beasts of the field are mine.

¹² If I had need of food, I would not give you word of it; for the earth is mine and all its wealth.

¹³ Am I to take the flesh of the ox for my food, or the blood of goats for my drink?

¹⁴ Make an offering of praise to God; keep the agreements which you have made with the Most High;

¹⁵ Let your voice come up to me in the day of trouble; I will be your saviour, so that you may give glory to me.

¹⁶ But to the sinner, God says, What are you doing, talking of my laws, or taking the words of my agreement in your mouth?

¹⁷ Seeing that you have no desire for my teaching, turning your back on my words.

¹⁸ When you saw a thief, you were in agreement with him, and you were joined with those who took other men's wives.

¹⁹ You have given your mouth to evil, your tongue to words of deceit.

²⁰ You say evil of your brother; you make false statements against your mother's son.

²¹ These things have you done, and I said nothing; it seemed to you that I was such a one as yourself; but I will make a protest against you, and put them in order before your eyes.

²² Now keep this in mind, you who have no memory of God, for fear that you may be crushed under my hand, with no one to give you help:

²³ Whoever makes an offering of praise gives glory to me; and to him who is upright in his ways I will make clear the salvation of God.