41 Bible Verses about Promises, Human

Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to the LORD, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.' I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion."

It happened at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do. Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner." Abraham said, "I will swear."

The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place." He said, "I will do as you have said." He said, "Swear to me," and he swore to him. And Israel bowed himself, leaning on the top of his staff.

Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded. When a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. "Also when a woman vows a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by a bond, being in her father's house, in her youth,read more.
and her father hears her vow, and her bond with which she has bound her soul, and her father holds his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she has bound her soul shall stand. But if her father disallow her in the day that he hears, none of her vows, or of her bonds with which she has bound her soul, shall stand: and the LORD will forgive her, because her father disallowed her. "If she has a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul, and her husband hears it, and holds his peace at her in the day that he hears it; then her vows shall stand, and her bonds with which she has bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband forbids her in the day that he hears it, then he shall make void her vow which is on her, and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul: and the LORD will forgive her. "But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has bound her soul, shall stand against her. "If she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and did not disallow her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband has made them void; and the LORD will forgive her. Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows, or all her bonds, which are on her: he has established them, because he says nothing to her on the day that he heard them. But if he shall make them null and void after that he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity." These are the statutes, which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father's house.

Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token; and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death." The men said to her, "Our life for yours, if you do not talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when the LORD gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you."read more.
Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. She said to them, "Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way." The men said to her, "We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear. Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by. You shall gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household. It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him. But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you have made us to swear." She said, "According to your words, so be it." She sent them away, and they departed. She tied the scarlet line in the window.

Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and the LORD will be my God,

Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon. Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."read more.
So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hand. He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. It happened, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter. You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the LORD, and I can't break it." She said to him, "My father, since you have given your word to the LORD; do to me as you promised, because the LORD has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon." She said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and weep because of my virginity, I and my companions." He said, "Go." He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and wept because of her virginity on the mountains. It happened at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, who did with her according to what he had vowed. And she was a virgin. It became a custom in Israel, that the daughters of Israel went yearly four days in a year to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

She vowed a vow, and said, "LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a boy, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head." It happened, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli saw her mouth. And Hannah, she was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.read more.
So Eli said to her, "How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you." And Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the LORD. Do not count your handmaid as a worthless woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my distress and my anguish." Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him." She said, "Let your handmaid find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way, and ate; and her facial expression wasn't sad any more. They rose up in the morning early, and worshiped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her. It happened, when the time had come, that Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked him of the LORD."

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 vowed to the LORD, in Hebron. For your servant vowed a vow while I stayed at Geshur in Syria, saying, 'If the LORD shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.'" The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he arose, and went to Hebron.read more.
But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, 'Absalom is king in Hebron.'" Two hundred men went with Absalom out of Jerusalem, who were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they did not know anything. Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge, and understanding? they joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;

You shall fear the LORD your God; and you shall serve him only, and shall swear by his name.

Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to the LORD, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,

Abraham said, "I will swear."

He said, "Swear to me," and he swore to him. And Israel bowed himself, leaning on the top of his staff.

Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token; and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death." The men said to her, "Our life for yours, if you do not talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when the LORD gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you."

they joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;

All the people came to cause David to eat bread while it was yet day; but David swore, saying, "God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or anything else, until the sun goes down."

where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death part you and me."

The men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, "Cursed is the man who eats any food until it is evening, and I am avenged of my enemies." So none of the people tasted food.

God do so to Abner, and more also, if, as the LORD has sworn to David, I do not do even so to him; to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba."

Then king Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, "God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.

After a little while those who stood by came and said to Peter, "Surely you are also one of them, for your speech makes you known." Then he began to curse and to swear, "I do not know the man." Immediately the rooster crowed. Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." He went out and wept bitterly.

But he again denied it. After a little while again those who stood by said to Peter, "You truly are one of them, for you are a Galilean." But he began to curse, and to swear, "I do not know this man of whom you speak." And immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Peter remembered the word, how that Jesus said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." When he thought about that, he wept.

Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded. When a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.

Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe and a graceful deer?let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?read more.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD. He examines all his paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly. He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.

Yet you say, 'Why?' Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant. Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with violence." says the LORD of hosts. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.

He answered, and said, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?' So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, do not let man tear apart."read more.
They asked him, "Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce, and divorce her?" He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery."

"'You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

When you shall vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not be slack to pay it: for the LORD your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you.

They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, "Peace, peace;" when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No. They were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says the LORD.

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, 'Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing.read more.
Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places. You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD." They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, "The LORD says"; but the LORD has not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed. "Haven't you seen a false vision, and haven't you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, "The LORD says"; but I have not spoken?

and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate," says the LORD.

These are wells without water, and mists driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved. For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who barely escape from those who live in error; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.

It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.

At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus, and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead. That is why these powers work in him." For Herod had arrested John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.read more.
For John said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." And though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced among them and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she should ask. And she, being prompted by her mother, said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist." And the king was grieved, but for the sake of his oaths, and of those who sat at the table with him, he commanded it to be given, and he sent and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought on a platter, and given to the young lady: and she brought it to her mother.

And then a convenient day came, that Herod on his birthday gave a supper for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those sitting with him. The king said to the young lady, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you." And he swore to her, "Whatever you shall ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom."read more.
So she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist." And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." And the king was exceedingly sorry, but for the sake of his oaths, and of his dinner guests, he did not wish to refuse her. So immediately the king sent out a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring John's head, and he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the young lady; and the young lady gave it to her mother.

"Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.' You blind fools. For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?'read more.
You blind men. For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who was living in it. He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.

"Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, 'You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,' but I tell you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.read more.
Neither shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No.' Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.

But if you shall forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in you. That which is gone out of your lips you shall observe and do; according as you have vowed to the LORD your God, a freewill offering, which you have promised with your mouth.