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.