³⁴Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah. And guess who came out to meet him. It was his daughter! She was dancing to the music of tambourines. She was his only child. He didn’t have any other sons or daughters.

³⁵When Jephthah saw her, he was so upset that he tore his clothes. He cried out, “My daughter! You have filled me with trouble and sorrow. I’ve made a promise to the Lord. And I can’t break it.”

³⁶“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. So do to me just what you promised to do. The Ammonites were your enemies. And the Lord has paid them back for what they did to you.

³⁷“But please do one thing for me,” she continued. “Give me two months to wander around in the hills. Let me sob there with my friends. I want to do that because I’ll never get married.”

³⁸“You can go,” he said. He let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills. They were filled with sadness because she would never get married.

³⁹After the two months were over, she returned to her father. He did to her just what he had promised to do. And she was a virgin.

So that became a practice in Israel. ⁴⁰Each year the young women of Israel go away for four days. They do it in honor of the daughter of Jephthah. He was from the land of Gilead.

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