1 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the matter {hadavar: authoritative decree} that the LORD {YHWH, Divine Commander} has commanded.”
2 If a man makes a vow to the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Witness} or swears an oath that places an obligation {issar: binding pledge} upon his soul, he must not treat his word as untrue; he must carry out everything he has spoken.
3 And if a woman makes a vow to the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Sovereign} and binds herself by an obligation {issar: binding obligation} in the house of her father while in her youth,
4 If her father hears her vow {nidrah: formal pledge} and her binding obligation {esarah: restrictive pledge} which she has imposed upon herself, and her father remains silent to her, then all her vows and every binding obligation she has imposed upon herself shall stand.
5 And if her father restrains her on the day of his hearing {shamo: attentive listening}, all her vows and the oaths by which she has bound herself shall not stand; and the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge} will forgive her, because her father restrained her.
6 And if she becomes a wife to a man while her vows {nedar: solemn commitments} are still upon her, or if a rash utterance of her lips has bound her soul {nefesh: life essence}.
7 And if her husband hears about it on the day he hears it and remains silent {cheresh: deliberate silence} toward her, then all her vows {nedar: solemn promise} and every binding obligation she has bound upon herself shall stand.
8 But if, on the day her husband hears it, he annuls her vow {neder: solemn pledge} that is upon her and the rash utterance of her lips by which she bound her soul, then the LORD {YHWH, Merciful Judge} will forgive her.
9 And any vow {neder: solemn promise} of a widow or a divorced woman, every pledge by which she has bound {asrah: self-commitment} herself, shall stand against her.
10 And if she makes a vow{nederah: formal pledge} in her husband’s house or binds her soul with a binding obligation{issar: binding restriction} by an oath.
11 If her husband {ish: Marriage Partner} hears and remains silent with her on the day he hears, then all her vows and the obligations {vaasarim: Binding Agreements} that she bound upon herself shall stand firm.
12 But if her husband nullifies them on the day that he hears them, every utterance of her lips regarding her vows {neder: solemn promises} or concerning the binding of her soul shall not stand. He has nullified them, and the LORD {YHWH, Merciful Forgiver} will forgive her.
13 Every vow and every binding oath to afflict the soul {nefesh: life essence} may be confirmed or annulled by her husband {ish: marriage partner}.
14 But if her husband {ish: marriage partner} remains silent toward her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows {neder: binding promise} or all her binding obligations upon her; he confirms them because he remained silent toward her on the day he heard them.
15 But if he nullifies {hafer: repudiates a vow} them after he has heard them, he shall bear her guilt {avonah: moral liability}.
16 These are the statutes {chukkim: binding decrees} which the LORD {YHWH, Lawgiver} commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife and between a father and his daughter when she is in her youth in her father’s house.