41 Bible Verses about Promises, Human

And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, {that neither a thread nor} a thong of a sandal would I take from all that [belongs] to you, that you might not say, 'I made Abram rich.' {Nothing besides what} the servants have eaten and the share of the men who went out with me [will I take.] Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."

And it happened [that] at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God [is] with you, in all that you do. So now, swear to me here by God [that] you will not deal with me falsely, or with my descendants, or my posterity. According to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall [pledge] to do with me and with the land where you have dwelled as an alien." And Abraham said, "I swear."

When {the time of Israel's death drew near}, he called to his son, to Joseph. And he said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh, that you might [vow] to deal kindly and faithfully with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my ancestors. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial site." And he said, "I will do according to your word." Then he said, "Swear to me." And he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

Then Moses spoke to {the leaders} of the tribes concerning the {Israelites}, saying, "This [is] the word that Yahweh commanded: if a man makes a vow for Yahweh or swears an oath with a binding pledge on himself, he must not render his word invalid; he must do all that went out from his mouth. "If a woman makes a vow to Yahweh, and she binds a pledge [on herself] in her father's house in your childhood,read more.
but if her father hears her vow or her pledge that she bound on herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows will stand, and every pledge that she binds on her life will stand. If her father forbids her on the day he hears [of it], all her vows or her pledges that she bound on herself will not stand, and Yahweh will forgive her because her father has forgiven her. "If {she has a husband} while bound by her vows or a rash promise of her lips, and her husband hears [of it] and is silent on the day he hears [it], her vows will stand, and her pledge that she bound upon herself will stand. But if on the day her husband hears [of it], he forbids her, then he will nullify her vow that she is under, and the rash promise of her lips that she bound on herself; and Yahweh will forgive her. "But the vow of a widow or a woman who is divorced, all that she binds on herself will stand on her. But if she made a vow [in] her husband's house, or bound herself on a pledge with a sworn oath, and her husband heard [it] but was silent to her, and he did not forbid her, all her vows will stand and every pledge that she bound on herself will stand. But if her husband nullified them on the day he hears [them], all her vows going out of her lips concerning her vows or the pledge on herself will not stand; her husband has nullified them, and Yahweh will forgive her. "Any vow and any sworn oath of a pledge to inflict on herself, her husband can confirm it or her husband can nullify it. But if her husband is completely silent from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her pledges that [are] on her; he confirms them because he was silent to her on the day he heard [them]. But if he indeed nullifies them after he hears them, then he will bear her guilt." These [are] the decrees that Yahweh commanded Moses, as between a husband and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, [while] her childhood [is in] her father's house.

So then please swear to me by Yahweh, because {I have shown loyalty to you}, and {you will also show loyalty} {to my family}. You must give me a sign of good faith, and you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all that belongs to them; you will deliver our lives from death." And the men said to her, "{Our lives for yours}. If you do not report this business of ours, {we will show you loyalty and faithfulness} when Yahweh gives us the land."read more.
Then she lowered them with a rope through the window, as her house [was] on the outer side of the wall, and she [was] residing in the wall. And she said to them, "Go to the mountain, so that the pursuers will not find you, and hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers return, and afterward you may go {on your way}." The men said to her, "We [will be] released from this oath of yours that you made us swear. [When] we come to the land, you must tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you must gather your father and mother, and your brothers, and your whole family to your house. If anyone goes outside the doors of your house, {they will be responsible for their own death}, and we [will be] innocent. Anyone who will be with you in the house, {we will be responsible for their death} {if a hand is laid on them}. But if you report this business of ours, we will be released from your oath that you made us swear." And she said, "According to your word it [will be]." Then she sent them away, and they went, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

And Jacob made a vow saying, "If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, and [if] I return in peace to the house of my father, then Yahweh will become my God.

And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through [to] the {Ammonites}. And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, and he said, "If indeed you will give the {Ammonites} into my hand, whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the {Ammonites} will be Yahweh's, and I will offer it [as] a burnt offering."read more.
And Jephthah crossed [over] to the {Ammonites} to make war against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand. And he defeated them [with] a very great blow, from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns, up to Abel Keramim. And the {Ammonites} were subdued before the {Israelites}. Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her. And the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. {I made an oath} to Yahweh, and I cannot take [it] back." She said to him, "My father, {you made an oath} to Yahweh. Do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh gave vengeance to you against your enemies, the {Ammonites}." And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months so that I may go wander on the mountains and lament over my virginity, I and my companions. And he said, "Go." He sent her away [for] two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains. At the end of the two months she returned to her father, and he did to her [according to] his vow; and {she did not sleep with a man}. And it became an annual custom in Israel for the daughters of Israel to go and lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for forty days of the year.

She {made a vow} and said: "O Yahweh of hosts, if you will look with compassion on the misery of your female servant, and will remember me, and not forget your female servant, and will give to your female servant {a male child} then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and a razor will never pass over his head." {While} she continued to pray before Yahweh, Eli was observing her mouth. Now Hannah had been speaking in her heart; her lips [were] moving, but her voice could not be heard, so Eli considered her [to be] drunk.read more.
Then Eli said to her, "How long will you behave like someone [who is] drunk? Put away your wine!" But Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord. I am a woman {deeply distressed}, but I have not drunk wine [or] strong drink. [Rather], I have poured out my soul before Yahweh. Do not regard your female servant as {worthless}, but because of the extent of my worries and my provocation I have spoken all of this." Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant your request that you have asked of him." And she said, "May your female slave find favor in your sight." Then the woman went on her way and ate [something], and {her face did not look sad any longer}. Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before Yahweh {and returned} to their house at Ramah. Then Elkanah {had sexual relations with} Hannah his wife, and Yahweh remembered her. {In due time}, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She called his name Samuel, for [she said], "I requested him from Yahweh."

It happened at the end of four years [that] Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to Yahweh in Hebron, for your servant made a vow while I [was] staying in Geshur in Aram, saying, '{If Yahweh will indeed let me return} to Jerusalem, then I will worship Yahweh.'" Then the king said to him, "Go in peace." So he got up and went to Hebron.read more.
Then Absalom sent scouts throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "When you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall shout 'Absalom has become king in Hebron!'" Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom as invited guests, going in their innocence as they did not know anything. Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the advisor of David, from his city Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. The conspiracy {grew in strength}, and the people [were] going and {increasing} with Absalom.

"The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to [observe] the law of God--their wives, their sons, their daughters, and all who know and understand-- [are] helping their brothers, their nobles, and entering into a solemn oath to walk in the law of God which was given by the hand of Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all of the commandments of Yahweh our Lord and his judgments and regulations.

"You shall fear Yahweh your God, and you shall serve him, and by his name you shall swear.

And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth,

And Abraham said, "I swear."

Then he said, "Swear to me." And he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

So then please swear to me by Yahweh, because {I have shown loyalty to you}, and {you will also show loyalty} {to my family}. You must give me a sign of good faith, and you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all that belongs to them; you will deliver our lives from death." And the men said to her, "{Our lives for yours}. If you do not report this business of ours, {we will show you loyalty and faithfulness} when Yahweh gives us the land."

[are] helping their brothers, their nobles, and entering into a solemn oath to walk in the law of God which was given by the hand of Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all of the commandments of Yahweh our Lord and his judgments and regulations.

Then all the people came to give David food. Still on that day, David swore, "{May God punish me} if I taste food or anything before the sun goes down."

Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. So may Yahweh do to me, {and even more, unless} death {separates you and me}!"

Now the men of Israel were hard pressed on that day, because Saul had made the army take an oath, saying, "Cursed be the man who eats [any] food until evening, when I will have avenged myself on my enemies!" So none of the army tasted [any] food.

Thus {may God punish Abner}, {if I do not accomplish what Yahweh has sworn to David}; [specifically,] to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan to Beersheba!"

Then King Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, "Thus may God do to me and thus may he add, if Adonijah hasn't spoken this thing at the expense of his life.

And after a little [while] those who were standing there came up [and] said to Peter, "You really are [one] of them also, because even your accent {reveals who you are}." Then he began to curse and to swear with an oath, "I do not know the man!" And immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the statement Jesus had said, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times," and he went outside [and] wept bitterly.

But he denied [it] again. And after a little [while], again the bystanders began to say to Peter, "You really are [one] of them, because you also are a Galilean, and your accent {shows it}!" And he began to curse and to swear with an oath, "I do not know this man whom you are talking about!" And immediately a rooster crowed for the second time. And Peter remembered the statement, how Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times," and throwing himself down, he began to weep.

Then Moses spoke to {the leaders} of the tribes concerning the {Israelites}, saying, "This [is] the word that Yahweh commanded: if a man makes a vow for Yahweh or swears an oath with a binding pledge on himself, he must not render his word invalid; he must do all that went out from his mouth.

Offer to God a thank offering and pay your vows to [the] Most High.

May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth. [She is] a deer of love and a doe of grace; may her breasts satisfy you {always}; by her love may you be intoxicated continually. Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?read more.
For before the eyes of Yahweh [are] {human ways}, and all his paths he examines. His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer, and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught. He shall die {for lack of} discipline, and in the greatness of his folly he shall be lost.

But you ask, "{For what reason}?" Because Yahweh stands as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been unfaithful, even though she [is] your marriage partner and {your wife by covenant}. {Did not one God make them?} But a remnant of [the] spirit is his. And what does the one [God] desire? An offspring of God. {You must be attentive to} your spirit, and you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. "For hate divorce," says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "and he [who] covers his clothing [with] violence," says Yahweh of hosts. "{You must be attentive to} your spirit and you must not be unfaithful."

And he answered [and] said, "Have you not read that the one who created [them] from the beginning made them male and female and said, 'On account of this a man will leave his father and his mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate."read more.
They said to him, "Why then did Moses command [us] to give a document--a certificate of divorce--and to divorce her?" He said to them, "Moses, with reference to your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not like this. Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the basis of sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."

and you shall not swear {falsely} in my name, and so [one of] you profane the name of your God; I [am] Yahweh.

"You shall not {misuse the name of Yahweh your God}, because Yahweh will not leave unpunished [anyone] who {misuses his name}.

"{When you make a vow} to Yahweh your God, you shall not postpone {fulfillment of it}, [for] certainly Yahweh your God shall require it from you and [if postponed] {you will incur guilt}.

And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly, {saying}, 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace. Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing? What's worse, they were not ashamed at all, and they did not know to feel humiliated. {Therefore} they will fall among [those who] fall; at the time of their punishment they will stumble," says Yahweh.

And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying}, "Son of man, prophesy to the prophets of Israel {who are prophesying}, and you must say to [those who are] prophets out of their own {imagination}, 'Hear the word of Yahweh!' Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Alas, for the foolish prophets who [are] going after their [own] spirit, {and they did not see anything}!read more.
Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. You did not go up into the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand [firm] in the battle on the day of Yahweh. They saw falseness and {a lying divination}, the ones saying, 'Declaration of Yahweh!' and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait {for the confirmation of their word}. Have you not seen {a false vision} and spoken {lying divination}, and [you] said, 'Declaration of Yahweh!' but {I myself did not speak}.

Do not devise evil in your hearts [against] your neighbor, and do not love {a false oath}, because all these [are] things I hate," {declares} Yahweh.

These [people] are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. {For by speaking high-sounding but empty words}, they entice with desires of the flesh [and] with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error, promising them freedom [although they] themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also enslaved.

[It is] a snare to humankind to say rashly "[It is] holy," and after vows, to scrutinize.

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and for this [reason] miraculous powers are at work in him." For Herod, [after] arresting John, bound him and put [him] in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,read more.
because John had been saying to him, "It is not permitted for you to have her." And [although he] wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they looked upon him as a prophet. But [when] Herod's birthday celebration took place, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst [of them] and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. And coached by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter!" And [although] the king was distressed, because of his oaths and his {dinner guests} he commanded [the request] to be granted. And he sent [orders] [and] had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought [it] to her mother.

And a suitable day came when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers and military tribunes and the most prominent [men] of Galilee. And [when] the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced and pleased Herod and {his dinner guests}, the king said to the girl, "Ask me [for] whatever you want, and I will give [it] to you." And he swore to her, "Anything whatever you ask me for I will give you, up to half my kingdom!"read more.
And she went out [and] said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer." And she came in immediately with haste to the king [and] asked, saying, "I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately." And [although he] was deeply grieved, the king, because of his oaths and {dinner guests}, did not want to refuse her. And immediately the king sent an executioner [and] ordered [him] to bring his head. And he went [and] beheaded him in the prison. And he brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound [by his oath].' Fools and blind [people]! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy? And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gift [that is] on it is bound [by his oath].'read more.
Blind [people]! For which [is] greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy Therefore the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything [that is] on it. And the one who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells [in] it And the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it.

"Again you have heard that it was said to the {people of old}, 'Do not swear falsely, but fulfill your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, because it is the throne of God, or by the earth, because it is the footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king.read more.
And do not swear by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. But let your statement be 'Yes, yes; no, no,' and anything beyond these is from the evil one.

And {if you refrain from vowing}, {you shall not incur guilt}. The utterance of your lips {you must perform diligently} [just] as you have vowed freely to Yahweh your God whatever [it was] that you promised with your mouth.