²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow,^(A) saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me^(B) on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear^{(C) 21} so that I return safely^(D) to my father’s household,^(E) then the Lord^[a] will be my God^{(F) 22} and^[b] this stone that I have set up as a pillar^(G) will be God’s house,^(H) and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.^(I)”

² Then Israel made this vow^(A) to the Lord: “If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy^[a](B) their cities.” ³ The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites^(C) over to them. They completely destroyed them^(D) and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.^[b](E)

Vows

30 ^[a]Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel:^(A) “This is what the Lord commands: ² When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.^(B)

³ “When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge ⁴ and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand.^{(C) 5} But if her father forbids her^(D) when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.

⁶ “If she marries after she makes a vow^(E) or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself ⁷ and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. ⁸ But if her husband^(F) forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her.^(G)

⁹ “Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.

¹⁰ “If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath ¹¹ and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. ¹² But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand.^(H) Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will release her. ¹³ Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself.^{[b] 14} But if her husband says nothing to her about it from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or the pledges binding on her. He confirms them by saying nothing to her when he hears about them. ¹⁵ If, however, he nullifies them^(I) some time after he hears about them, then he must bear the consequences of her wrongdoing.”

³⁰ And Jephthah made a vow^(A) to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, ³¹ whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph^(B) from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.^(C)”

³² Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. ³³ He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith,^(D) as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

³⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing^(E) to the sound of timbrels!^(F) She was an only child.^(G) Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes^(H) and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.^(I)”

³⁶ “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised,^(J) now that the Lord has avenged you^(K) of your enemies,^(L) the Ammonites. ³⁷ But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

³⁸ “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. ³⁹ After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition ⁴⁰ that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

¹¹ And she made a vow,^(A) saying, “Lord Almighty^(B), if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember^(C) me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life,^(D) and no razor^(E) will ever be used on his head.”

Psalm 132^(A)

A song of ascents.

⁴ When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it.^(C) He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.^{(D) 5} It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.^(E)