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" 'Or if a person thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil,in any matter one might carelessly swear about,even though he is unaware of it, in any case when he learns of it he will be guilty.
Leviticus Chapter 5: Verse 4
The LORD said to Moses:
"If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him,
or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do-
when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,
or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering.
And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, his guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value.
Leviticus Chapter 6: Verses 1 - 6
Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: "This is what the LORD commands:
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.
"When a young woman still living in her father's house makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge
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.
But if her father forbids her 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.
"If she marries after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself
and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand.
But if her husband 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.
"Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.
"If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath
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.
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. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will release her.
Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself.
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.
If, however, he nullifies them some time after he hears about them, then he is responsible for her guilt."
These are the regulations the LORD gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and his young daughter still living in his house.
Numbers Chapter 30: Verses 1 - 16
And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD : "If you give the Ammonites into my hands,
whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."
Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands.
He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.
When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.
When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break."
"My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.
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."
"You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.
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 custom
Judges Chapter 11: Verses 30 - 39
The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: "Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite."
The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly.
"O LORD, the God of Israel," they cried, "why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?"
Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
Then the Israelites asked, "Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the LORD ?" For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah should certainly be put to death.
Now the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites. "Today one tribe is cut off from Israel," they said.
"How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?"
Judges Chapter 21: Verses 1 - 7
Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: "There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.
Hosea Chapter 4: Verses 1 - 3
I looked again,and there before me was a flying scroll!
He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide. "
And he said to me, "This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished.
The LORD Almighty declares, 'I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in his house and destroy it, both its timbers and its stones.' " The Woman in a Basket
Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, "Look up and see what this is that is appearing."
Zechariah Chapter 5: Verses 1 - 5
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.'
But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne;
or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.An Eye for an Eye
Matthew Chapter 5: Verses 33 - 37
"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.'
You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
Matthew Chapter 23: Verses 16 - 22
Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.
Acts Chapter 18: Verse 18
The next morning the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
More than forty men were involved in this plot.
They went to the chief priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here."
Acts Chapter 23: Verses 12 - 15
Above all, my brothers, do not swear,not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.The Prayer of Faith
James Chapter 5: Verse 12
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