Deuteronomy 23:21-23
[SUP]21 [/SUP]“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you. [SUP]22 [/SUP]However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. [SUP]23 [/SUP]You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised.
Numbers 30
The Law of Vows
30 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the word which the Lord has commanded. [SUP]2 [/SUP]If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
[SUP]
3 [/SUP]“Also if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth, [SUP]4 [/SUP]and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand. [SUP]5 [/SUP]But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her because her father had forbidden her.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-7
[SUP]4 [/SUP]When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! [SUP]5 [/SUP]It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. [SUP]6 [/SUP]Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands? [SUP]7 [/SUP]For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.
Matthew 5:33-37
[SUP]33 [/SUP]“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ [SUP]34 [/SUP]But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, [SUP]35 [/SUP]or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. [SUP]36 [/SUP]Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. [SUP]37 [/SUP]But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.
Judges 11:29-40
Jephthah’s Tragic Vow
[SUP]29 [/SUP]Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon. [SUP]30 [/SUP]Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, [SUP]31 [/SUP]then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” [SUP]32 [/SUP]So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. [SUP]33 [/SUP]He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.
[SUP]
34 [/SUP]When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. [SUP]35 [/SUP]When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.” [SUP]36 [/SUP]So she said to him, “My father, you have given your word to the Lord; do to me as you have said, since the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.” [SUP]
37 [/SUP]She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go to the mountains and weep because of my virginity, I and my companions.” [SUP]38 [/SUP]Then he said, “Go.” So he sent her away for two months; and she left with her companions, and wept on the mountains because of her virginity. [SUP]39 [/SUP]At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her according to the vow which he had made; and she had no relations with a man. Thus it became a custom in Israel, [SUP]40 [/SUP]that the daughters of Israel went yearly to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
Psalm 116
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.
116 I love the Lord, because He hears
My voice and my supplications.
[SUP]2 [/SUP]Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]The cords of death encompassed me
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I beseech You, save my life!”
[SUP]
5 [/SUP]Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]For You have rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
My feet from stumbling.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]I shall walk before the Lord
In the land of the living.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]I believed when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
[SUP]11 [/SUP]I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars.”
[SUP]
12 [/SUP]What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
[SUP]13 [/SUP]I shall lift up the cup of salvation
And call upon the name of the Lord.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]I shall pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]O Lord, surely I am Your servant,
I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid,
You have loosed my bonds.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
[SUP]18 [/SUP]I shall pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people,
[SUP]19 [/SUP]In the courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
[SUP]21 [/SUP]“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you. [SUP]22 [/SUP]However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. [SUP]23 [/SUP]You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised.
Numbers 30
The Law of Vows
30 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the word which the Lord has commanded. [SUP]2 [/SUP]If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
[SUP]
3 [/SUP]“Also if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth, [SUP]4 [/SUP]and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand. [SUP]5 [/SUP]But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her because her father had forbidden her.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-7
[SUP]4 [/SUP]When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! [SUP]5 [/SUP]It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. [SUP]6 [/SUP]Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands? [SUP]7 [/SUP]For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.
Matthew 5:33-37
[SUP]33 [/SUP]“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ [SUP]34 [/SUP]But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, [SUP]35 [/SUP]or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. [SUP]36 [/SUP]Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. [SUP]37 [/SUP]But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.
Judges 11:29-40
Jephthah’s Tragic Vow
[SUP]29 [/SUP]Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon. [SUP]30 [/SUP]Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, [SUP]31 [/SUP]then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” [SUP]32 [/SUP]So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. [SUP]33 [/SUP]He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.
[SUP]
34 [/SUP]When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. [SUP]35 [/SUP]When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.” [SUP]36 [/SUP]So she said to him, “My father, you have given your word to the Lord; do to me as you have said, since the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.” [SUP]
37 [/SUP]She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go to the mountains and weep because of my virginity, I and my companions.” [SUP]38 [/SUP]Then he said, “Go.” So he sent her away for two months; and she left with her companions, and wept on the mountains because of her virginity. [SUP]39 [/SUP]At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her according to the vow which he had made; and she had no relations with a man. Thus it became a custom in Israel, [SUP]40 [/SUP]that the daughters of Israel went yearly to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
Psalm 116
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.
116 I love the Lord, because He hears
My voice and my supplications.
[SUP]2 [/SUP]Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]The cords of death encompassed me
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I beseech You, save my life!”
[SUP]
5 [/SUP]Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]For You have rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
My feet from stumbling.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]I shall walk before the Lord
In the land of the living.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]I believed when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
[SUP]11 [/SUP]I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars.”
[SUP]
12 [/SUP]What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
[SUP]13 [/SUP]I shall lift up the cup of salvation
And call upon the name of the Lord.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]I shall pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]O Lord, surely I am Your servant,
I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid,
You have loosed my bonds.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
[SUP]18 [/SUP]I shall pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people,
[SUP]19 [/SUP]In the courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!