Judges 11:29–40

Jephthah’s Vow and Victory

29 Then mthe Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah nmade a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, 31 then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, oshall surely be the Lord’s, pand I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

32 So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. 33 And he 5defeated them from Aroer as far as qMinnith—twenty cities—and to 6Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

Jephthah’s Daughter

34 When Jephthah came to his house at rMizpah, there was shis daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he ttore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I uhave 7given my word to the Lord, and vI cannot 8go back on it.”

36 So she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to the Lord, wdo to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because xthe Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon.” 37 Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and 9bewail my virginity, my 1friends and I.”

38 So he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. 39 And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he ycarried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She 2knew no man.

And it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to 3lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.