41 Bible Verses about Promises, Human

But Abram answered the king of Sodom, "I have made an oath to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you won't be able to say, "I made Abram rich.' I will take nothing except what my warriors have eaten. But as for what belongs to the men who were allied with me, including Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their share."

About that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, told Abraham, "God is with you in everything that you're doing. Therefore swear an oath here by God that you won't deal falsely with me, my sons, or my descendants. Just as I've dealt graciously with you, won't you do so with me and with the land in which you live as a foreigner?" And Abraham replied, "I agree!"

As the time approached for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and addressed him. "Please," he asked, "if you're happy with me, make a solemn promise that you'll treat me fairly and kindly by not burying me in Egypt. Instead, when I've died, as my ancestors have, you are to carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their tomb." "I'll do what you've asked," Joseph replied. "Promise me," Israel insisted. So Joseph promised. Then Israel collapsed on his bed.

Later, Moses told the elders of the Israeli tribes, "This is what the LORD has commanded: "When a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath an obligation that is binding to himself he is not to break his word. Instead, he is to fulfill whatever promise came out of his mouth.'" "When a young woman makes a vow to the LORD or pledges herself to an obligation while she still lives in her father's house, read more.
and her father hears her vow and the obligations that she had pledged herself to fulfill, yet her father keeps silent about it, then all her vows and every obligation she pledged herself to are to stand. But if her father disallows her on the same day that he hears what she has said, then all her vows and every obligation she had pledged herself to fulfill are not to stand. The LORD will forgive her, because her father has forbidden her." "If she has a husband and she makes a vow that is binding on herself, or if she makes a hasty vow with her mouth that she pledges herself to fulfill, and her husband hears her vow, yet remains silent on the day that he hears it, then her vows are to stand and the obligation to which she had pledged herself is to stand. But if, on the same day her husband hears and disallows her, then he has revoked her vows that she made for herself, along with any hasty vows that she spoke and to which she pledged herself to fulfill. The LORD will forgive her." "Everything that a widow or a divorced woman pledges herself to fulfill are to be binding on her. If, while she had been living in her late or former husband's house, she makes a vow or a promise that binds her with an oath, and her husband hears it but remains silent, not disallowing it, then all her vows are to stand, along with every obligation that she has pledged to fulfill. But if her husband disallowed them the very day that he heard her, everything that she spoke relating to her vows and her obligation to herself are not to stand, because her husband revoked them. The LORD will forgive her. Her husband may confirm or revoke every vow and binding obligation that afflicts her. But if her husband remains silent about her from day to day, then he has affirmed all her vows or obligations that she has obligated herself to fulfill. He has affirmed them because he remained silent from the day he heard her vows. But if he nullified them after he had heard, then he will be responsible for any resulting iniquity." These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning a man and his wife and concerning a father and his young daughter while she still lives in her father's house.

Now therefore, since I've treated you so kindly, please swear in the name of the LORD that you'll also be kind to my father's household by giving me this sure sign: Spare my father, my mother, and my brothers and sisters, along with everyone who belongs with them so we won't be killed." So the men told her, "Our life for yours even to death if you don't betray this mission of ours. Then when the LORD gives us this land, we'll treat you graciously and faithfully."read more.
So she let them down by a rope through the window, since her house was built into the town wall where she lived. She told them, "Go out to the hill country, so the search party won't find you, and hide for three days. After that, you may go on your own way." The men replied, "We'll be free from our commitment to you to which you've obligated us when we invade the land, if you don't tie this rope made with red cords in the window through which you let us down, and if you don't gather your father, your mother, your brothers, and all of the rest of your father's household into your house. Everyone who leaves through the doors of your house into the street will be responsible for his own death, but we'll be responsible for anyone who remains with you in the house if even so much as a hand is laid on him. But if you report this incident, we'll be free from the oath to which you've made us swear." "Since you put it that way," she replied, "I agree." After she sent them on their way and they had left, she tied the red cord in the window.

Then he made this solemn vow: "If God remains with me, watches over me throughout this journey that I'm taking, gives me food to eat and clothes to wear, and returns me safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God,

The Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah, so he swept through Gilead and the territory of Manasseh, then swept through Mizpah in Gilead, and from Mizpah in Gilead he proceeded toward where the Ammonites were encamped. Jephthah made this solemn vow to the LORD: "If you truly give the Ammonites into my control, then if I return from the Ammonites without incident, whatever comes out the doors of my house to meet me will become the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."read more.
Then Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites and attacked them. The LORD gave them into his control. He attacked them from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith twenty cities in all even as far as Abel-keramim. As a result, the Ammonites were subdued right in front of the Israelis. When Jephthah arrived at his home in Mizpah surprise! it was his daughter who came out to meet him, playing tambourines and dancing. She was his one and only child. Except for her, he had no other son or daughter. When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and cried out, "Oh no! My daughter! You have terribly burdened me! You've joined those who are causing me trouble, because I've given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it. She told him, "My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me according to what has come out of your own mouth, considering that the LORD has paid back your enemies, the Ammonites." Then she continued talking with her father, "Do this for me: leave me alone by myself for two months. I'll go up to the mountains and cry there because I'll never marry. My friends and I will go." So he said, "Go!" He sent her away for two months. She left with her friends and cried there on the mountains because she would never marry. Later, after the two months were concluded, she returned to her father, and he fulfilled what he had solemnly vowed and she never married. That's how the custom arose in Israel that for four days out of every year the Israeli women would go to mourn the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite in commemoration.

Hannah made a vow: "LORD of the Heavenly Armies, if you just look at the misery of your maid servant, remember me, and don't forget your maid servant. If you give your maid servant a son, then I'll give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and a razor is never to touch his head." As she continued to pray in the LORD's presence, Eli was watching her mouth. Hannah was praying inwardly. Her lips were quivering, and her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. read more.
Eli told her, "How long will you stay drunk? Put away your wine!" "No, sir!" Hannah replied. "I'm a deeply troubled woman. I've drunk neither wine nor beer. I've been pouring out my soul in the LORD's presence. Don't consider your maid servant a worthless woman. Rather, all this time I've been speaking because I'm very anxious and distressed." "Go in peace," Eli answered. "May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him." She said, "Let your servant find favor in your eyes." Then she went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. They got up early the next morning and worshipped in the LORD's presence, and then they returned and came to their house at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. By the time of the next year's sacrifice, Hannah had become pregnant and had borne a son. She named him Samuel because she said, "I asked the LORD for him."

And so it was that forty years after Israel had demanded a king, Absalom asked the king, "Please let me go to Hebron so I can pay my vow that I made to the LORD, because when I was living at Geshur in Aram, your servant made this solemn promise: "If the LORD ever brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.'" The king replied to him, "Go in peace!" So Absalom got up and left for Hebron.read more.
But Absalom sent agents throughout all of the tribes of Israel, telling them, "When you hear the sound of the battle trumpet, you're to announce that Absalom is king in Hebron." Meanwhile, 200 men left Jerusalem with Absalom. They had been invited to go along, but were innocent, not knowing anything about what was happening. Absalom also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, to come from his home town of Giloh while Absalom was presenting the sacrificial offerings. And so the conspiracy widened, because the common people increasingly sided with Absalom.

The rest of the people, the priests, the descendants of Levi, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Temple Servants, and everyone who had separated themselves from the nations of the surrounding lands for the Law of God their wives, their sons, their daughters, and all who had knowledge and understanding joined with their relatives and their leaders. They entered into an oath enforced by a curse to walk in God's Law that was given through God's servant Moses, and to be careful to obey all of the commands of the LORD, our Lord, as well as his regulations and statutes:

Fear the LORD your God, serve him, and make your oaths in his name.

But Abram answered the king of Sodom, "I have made an oath to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

And Abraham replied, "I agree!"

"Promise me," Israel insisted. So Joseph promised. Then Israel collapsed on his bed.

Now therefore, since I've treated you so kindly, please swear in the name of the LORD that you'll also be kind to my father's household by giving me this sure sign: Spare my father, my mother, and my brothers and sisters, along with everyone who belongs with them so we won't be killed." So the men told her, "Our life for yours even to death if you don't betray this mission of ours. Then when the LORD gives us this land, we'll treat you graciously and faithfully."

joined with their relatives and their leaders. They entered into an oath enforced by a curse to walk in God's Law that was given through God's servant Moses, and to be careful to obey all of the commands of the LORD, our Lord, as well as his regulations and statutes:

Then all the people cried again because of him. Everyone tried to persuade David to have a meal while there was still daylight, but David took an oath by saying, "May God to do like this to me and more, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!"

Where you die, I'll die and be buried. May the LORD do this to me and more if anything except death comes between you and me."

The men of Israel were hard pressed on that day, and Saul required the army to take an oath: "Cursed is the person who eats food before evening and before I've been avenged of my enemies." So no one tasted food.

Therefore may God do to me and more also! just as the LORD has promised to David, since I'm doing this for him: I will take away the kingdom from the dynasty of Saul by making the throne of David firm over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beer-sheba!"

Then King Solomon took this oath in the name of the LORD: "May God do so to me, and more besides, if Adonijah hasn't endangered his life by bringing up this subject.

After a little while, the people who were standing there came up and told Peter, "Obviously you're also one of them, because your accent gives you away." Then he began to curse violently. "I don't know the man!" he swore solemnly. Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered the words of Jesus when he said, "Before a rooster crows, you'll deny me three times." Then he went outside and cried bitterly.

Again he denied it. After a little while, the people who were standing there began to say to Peter again, "Obviously you're one of them, because you are a Galilean!" Then he began to invoke a divine curse and to swear with an oath, "I don't know this man you're talking about!" Just then a rooster crowed a second time. Peter remembered that Jesus told him, "Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." Then he broke down and cried.

Later, Moses told the elders of the Israeli tribes, "This is what the LORD has commanded: "When a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath an obligation that is binding to himself he is not to break his word. Instead, he is to fulfill whatever promise came out of his mouth.'"

Offer to God a thanksgiving praise; pay your vows to the Most High.

Let your fountain be blessed and enjoy the wife of your youth. Like a loving deer, a beautiful doe, let her breasts satisfy you all the time. Be constantly intoxicated by her love. Why should you be intoxicated by an adulteress, my son, and embrace the bosom of a foreign woman?read more.
Indeed, what a man does is always in the LORD's presence, and he weighs all his paths. The wicked person's iniquities will capture him, and he will be held with the cords of his sin. He will die for lack of discipline, and he goes astray because of his great folly.

Yet you ask, "For what reason?' Because the LORD acts as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you were unfaithful to her, your partner, the wife of your covenant. Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. "Indeed, the LORD God of Israel says that he hates divorce, along with the one who conceals his violence by outward appearances," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "So guard yourselves carefully, and don't be unfaithful."

He answered them, "Haven't you read that the one who made them at the beginning "made them male and female' and said, "That is why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must never separate."read more.
They asked him, "Why, then, did Moses order us "to give a certificate of divorce and divorce her'?" He told them, "It was because of your hardness of heart that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning it was not this way. I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

"You are not to use my name to deceive, thereby defiling the name of your God. I am the LORD.

"You are not to misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will not leave unpunished the one who misuses his name.

"When you make a vow to the LORD your God, don't delay paying it, because the LORD your God will certainly demand payment from you, and then you will be guilty of sin.

They have treated my people's wound superficially, telling them, "Peace, peace,' when there is no peace. Are they ashamed because they have done what is repugnant to God? They weren't ashamed at all; they don't even know how to blush! Therefore they'll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they'll be brought down," says the LORD.

This message came to me from the LORD: "Son of Man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who even now are prophesying, and tell those prophets that keep on prophesying according to what they wish would happen, "Listen to what the LORD says.'" "This is what the Lord GOD says, "How terrible it will be for the false prophets who walk according to their own wrong inclinations and see nothing. read more.
Israel, your prophets have become like foxes among ruins. You didn't go up to repair the breaches in the walls and you didn't build the walls so Israel's house would be able to endure battle on the Day of the LORD. Instead, they crafted false prophecies and divination. ""They say, ""declares the LORD," even though the LORD didn't send them. And they hope for the fulfillment of their message. You've crafted a false prophesy and spoken deceptive divination, haven't you? But then you say, ""declares the LORD," although I haven't spoken a single word.

don't plot evil in your heart against a neighbor, and don't tolerate false testimonies, because I hate all these things,' declares the LORD."

These men are dried-up springs, mere clouds driven by a storm. Gloomy darkness is reserved for them. By talking high-sounding nonsense and using sinful cravings of the flesh, they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. Promising them freedom, they themselves are slaves to depravity, for a person is a slave to whatever conquers him.

It is a trap for a person to declare quickly, "This is sacred," and only later to have second thoughts about the vows.

At that time Herod the tetrarch, hearing about the fame of Jesus, told his servants, "This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and that's why these miracles are being done by him." Herod had arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.read more.
John had been telling him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." Although Herod wanted to kill him, he was afraid of the crowd, since they regarded John as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday celebration was held, the daughter of Herodias danced before the guests. She pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked for. Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me, right here on a platter, the head of John the Baptist." Under pressure because of his promises and his assembled guests, the king ordered that it be done. So he sent word and had John beheaded in prison. His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother.

An opportunity came during Herod's birthday celebration, when he gave a banquet for his top officials, military officers, and the most important people of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. So the king told the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." He swore with an oath to her, "I'll give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom."read more.
So she went out and asked her mother, "What should I ask for?" Her mother replied, "The head of John the Baptist." Immediately the girl hurried back to the king with her request, "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." The king was deeply saddened, yet because of his oaths and his guests he was reluctant to refuse her. So without delay the king sent a soldier and ordered him to bring John's head. The soldier went and beheaded him in prison. Then he brought John's head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

"How terrible it will be for you, blind guides! You say, "Whoever swears an oath by the sanctuary is excused, but whoever swears an oath by the gold of the sanctuary must keep his oath.' You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the sanctuary that made the gold holy? Again you say, "Whoever swears an oath by the altar is excused, but whoever swears by the gift that is on it must keep his oath.' read more.
You blind men! Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? Therefore, the one who swears an oath by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. The one who swears an oath by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who lives there. And the one who swears an oath by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

"Again, you have heard that it was told those who lived long ago, "You must not swear an oath falsely,' but, "You must fulfill your oaths to the Lord.' But I tell you not to swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is God's throne, nor by the earth, because it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the Great King. read more.
Nor should you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. Instead, let your message be "Yes' for "Yes' and "No' for "No.' Anything more than that comes from the evil one."

But if you refrain from making a vow, then you won't be guilty. Be sure you do whatever you promise, because you have given your word voluntarily to the LORD your God.