Bible Verses About Vows

Ya'akov took this vow: "If God will be with me and will guard me on this road that I am traveling, giving me bread to eat and clothes to wear,

so that I return to my father's house in peace, then ADONAI will be my God;

and this stone, which I have set up as a standing-stone, will be God's house; and of everything you give me, I will faithfully return one-tenth to you."

I am the God of Beit-El, where you anointed a standing-stone with oil, where you vowed your vow to me. Now get up, get out of this land, and return to the land where you were born.'"

If someone allows to slip from his mouth an oath to do evil or to do good, and he doesn't remember that he clearly spoke this oath, then, no matter what it was about, when he learns of it, he is guilty.

A person guilty of any of these things is to confess in what manner he sinned

and bring his guilt offering to ADONAI for the sin he committed; it is to be a female from the flock, either a lamb or a goat, as a sin offering; and the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to his sin.

"'If he can't afford a lamb, he is to bring as his guilt offering for the sin he committed two doves or two young pigeons for ADONAI - the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.

He is to bring them to the cohen, who will offer the one for a sin offering first. He is to wring its neck but not remove the head,

sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar and drain out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering.

He is to prepare the second as a burnt offering in the manner prescribed. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin which he committed, and he will be forgiven.

"'But if his means are insufficient even for two doves or two young pigeons, then he is to bring as his offering for the sin he committed two quarts of fine flour for a sin offering; he is not to put any olive oil or frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering.

He is to bring it to the cohen, and the cohen is to take a handful of it as its reminder portion and make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings for ADONAI made by fire; it is a sin offering.

Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin he committed concerning any of these things, and he will be forgiven. The rest will belong to the cohanim, as with a grain offering.'"

But if the sacrifice connected with his offering is for a vow or is a voluntary offering, then, while it is to be eaten on the day he offers his sacrifice, what remains of it may be eaten the next day.

However, what remains of the meat of the sacrifice on the third day is to be burned up completely.

If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, the sacrifice will neither be accepted nor credited to the person offering it; rather, it will have become a disgusting thing, and whoever eats it will bear the consequences of his wrongdoing.

"Speak to Aharon and his sons and to the entire people of Isra'el; tell them: 'When anyone, whether a member of the house of Isra'el or a foreigner living in Isra'el, brings his offering, either in connection with a vow or as a voluntary offering, and brings it to ADONAI as a burnt offering,

in order for you to be accepted, you must bring a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep or the goats.

You are not to bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted from you.

Whoever brings a sacrifice of peace offerings to ADONAI in fulfillment of a vow or as a voluntary offering, whether it come from the herd or from the flock, it must be unblemished and without defect in order to be accepted.

If it is blind, injured, mutilated, has an abnormal growth or has festering or running sores, you are not to offer it to ADONAI or make such an offering by fire on the altar to ADONAI.

If a bull or lamb has a limb which is too long or short, you may offer it as a voluntary offering; but for a vow it will not be accepted.

An animal with bruised, crushed, torn or cut genitals you are not to offer to ADONAI. You are not to do these things in your land,

and you are not to receive any of these from a foreigner for you to offer as bread for your God, because their deformity is a defect in them - they will not be accepted from you.'"