35 Bible Verses about Oaths, Human

"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 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.

"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.

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

Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his Holy Place? The one who has innocent hands and a pure heart; the person who does not delight in what is false and does not swear an oath deceitfully.

If they have learned the ways of my people well, to swear by my name: "As surely as the LORD lives,' just as they once taught my people to swear by Baal, then they'll be built up among my people.

"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.

""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.

if he has found something that had been lost and then lied about it, or if he makes a false oath about any of these things, thus committing a sin with respect to these things. If that person has sinned and has been found guilty, then he is to return the stolen thing that he took or obtained by oppression, or the security that had been entrusted to him, or the lost thing that he had found, or the thing about which he had given a false oath. He is to restore it in full, add a fifth to it, then give it to whom it belongs the very day he's found guilty.

He responded to me, "This is the curse that is going out over the surface of the whole earth, because, according to this side of the scroll, all thieves will be ejected, and according to the other side of the scroll, all liars will be ejected." "I am bringing this about," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "The curse will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who lies in my name. The curse will remain in his house until that house has been completely destroyed, right down to its timber and stones."

the two of them are to take an oath in the LORD's presence that the accused has not taken his neighbor's property. Its owner is to accept this, and the neighbor is not to make restitution.

"The priest is to administer this oath to the woman: "If indeed another man didn't have sexual relations with you and you didn't become unfaithful to your husband, then may you be free from these waters that bring a curse.

"If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple,

But during the seventh year of her reign, Jehoiada went out and called together the rulers of hundreds, the captains, and the guards, and assembled them together inside the LORD's Temple. He made a covenant with them, making them take an oath in the LORD's Temple, and then he revealed the king's son to them.

Then King Zedekiah, in secret, swore an oath to Jeremiah: "As surely as the LORD lives, who gave us this life to live, I won't have you put to death, nor will I hand you over to these men who are seeking to kill you."

Then he took one of the royal descendants, made a covenant with him, and put him under an oath of loyalty, taking the leaders of the land captive

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!" read more.
But then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized. "I don't know who did this thing," Abimelech replied. "You didn't report this to me, and I didn't hear about it until today." So Abraham took sheep and oxen and presented them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. Then Abraham set aside seven ewe lambs, so Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set aside?" He replied, "You are to accept from me these seven ewe lambs as a witness that I have dug this well." Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba, because the two of them swore an oath.

Later, Abimelech traveled from Gerar to visit Isaac. He arrived with Ahuzzath, his staff advisor, and Phicol, the commanding officer of his army. "Why have you come to see me," Isaac asked them, "since you hate me so much that you sent me away from you?" "We've seen that the LORD is with you," they responded, "so we're proposing an agreement between us between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you read more.
by which you'll agree not to do us any harm, just as we haven't harmed you, since we've done nothing but good for you after we sent you away in peace. As a result, you've been tremendously blessed by the LORD." So Isaac held a festival for them, and they ate and drank. They woke up early the next morning and made the treaty. After this, Isaac sent them off and they left on peaceful terms.

Come, let's make a covenant just between you and me. And let it serve as a witness between you and me." So Jacob took a stone and raised it as a pillar. Then Jacob told his relatives, "Go gather some stones." So they picked up stones and stacked them one on top of the other. Then they had a meal together there by the stack of stones. read more.
Laban named the place Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed. Then Laban said, "This stack will serve as a witness between you and me today." That's how the place came to be named Galeed. It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, "May the LORD watch between you and me, when we are estranged from each other. If you mistreat my daughters or if you take other wives besides them, though no one is watching us, keep in mind that God stands as a witness between you and me." "Look!" Laban added, "Here is the stack of stones and here is the pillar that I've set up between you and me. This stack is a witness, and so is this pillar, reminding me not to cross beyond this stack of stones, and reminding you not to pass by this stack in my direction, intending to cause harm. May Abraham's God and Nahor's god judge between us."

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they took the initiative by preparing their provisions shrewdly: they took tattered sacks for their donkeys, worn-out, torn, and mended wineskins, worn-out, patched sandals for their feet, and worn-out clothes. All of their food was dried out and covered in mold. read more.
Then they approached Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and addressed him and the Israelis, "We've arrived from a distant country, so please make a treaty with us right now." But the Israelis responded to the Hivites, "Perhaps you live in our midst. If this is so, how can we make a treaty with you?" So they responded to Joshua, "We are your servants." Joshua asked them, "Who are you? And where did you come from?" They answered, "Your servants have arrived from a very distant land, because of the reputation of the LORD your God, because we've heard a report about all that he did in Egypt, along with all of what he did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan River that is, to King Sihon of Heshbon and to King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. So our leaders and all of the inhabitants of our country told us, "Take provisions along with you for your journey, go to meet them, and tell them, "We are your servants. Come now and make a treaty with us."' Look at our bread: it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for our journey on the very day we set out to come to you. But now, look how it's dry and moldy. And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but look now they're cracked. And our clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey." So the leaders of Israel sampled their provisions, but did not ask the LORD about it. They made a treaty with them, guaranteeing their lives with a covenant, and the leaders of the congregation confirmed it with an oath to them. But three days after they had made the treaty with them, they learned that they were their neighbors and were living in their midst. So the Israelis set out for their cities and three days later they reached their cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. The Israelis did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had made an oath with them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the entire congregation grumbled against their leaders. Then all of the leaders spoke to the entire congregation, "We have sworn to them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them. So this is what we'll do to them: we'll let them live, so that wrath won't come upon us because of the oath that we swore to them." The leaders told them, "Let them live." So they became wood cutters and water carriers for the entire congregation, which is what the leaders had decided concerning them.

Then Joshua made everyone take the following oath at that time. He said: "Cursed in the presence of the LORD is the man who restores and rebuilds this city of Jericho! He will lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn, and at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates."

As he went out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, "This man was with Jesus from Nazareth." Again he denied it and swore with an oath, "I don't know the man!" 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."read more.
Then he began to curse violently. "I don't know the man!" he swore solemnly. Just then a rooster crowed.

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!"

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.'

as a promise to the LORD, the God of heaven and earth, that you won't acquire a wife for my son from the Canaanite women among whom I'm living. Instead, you are to go to my country and to my family and acquire a wife for my son Isaac." "What if the woman doesn't want to come back with me to this land?" the servant asked. "Shouldn't I have your son go to the land from which you came?"read more.
"Make sure not to take my son there," Abraham replied. "The LORD God of heaven, who brought me from my father's house and from my family's land, who spoke to me and promised me "I will give this land to your descendants,' will send his angel ahead of you, and you are to acquire a wife for my son from there. If the woman isn't willing to follow you, then you'll be free from this oath to me. Just don't take my son back there!" So the servant made a solemn oath to his master Abraham regarding this matter.

He lived for seventeen more years in Egypt, until he was 147 years old. 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.read more.
"Promise me," Israel insisted. So Joseph promised. Then Israel collapsed on his bed.

Later, Joseph told his brothers, "I'm going to die soon, but God will certainly provide for you and bring you up from this land to the land that he promised with an oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So Joseph made all of Israel's other children make this promise: "Because God is certainly going to take care of you, you are to carry my bones up from here."

LORD, remember in David's favor all of his troubles; how he swore an oath to the LORD, vowing to the Mighty One of Jacob, "I will not enter my house, or lie down on my bed,read more.
or let myself go to sleep or even take a nap, until I locate a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."

But Jacob insisted, "Swear it by an oath right now." So he swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

When a person has sworn inadvertently by what he has said, whether for evil or good, whatever it was that the person spoke, when he comes to understand what he said, he will incur guilt by one of these things.

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.

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."

Above all, brothers, do not swear oaths by heaven, by earth, or by any other object. Instead, let your "Yes" mean yes and your "No" mean no! Otherwise, you may fall under condemnation.

"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."