Jephthah

⁶ Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.^(A) They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths,^(B) and the gods of Aram,^(C) the gods of Sidon,^(D) the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites^(E) and the gods of the Philistines.^(F) And because the Israelites forsook the Lord^(G) and no longer served him, ⁷ he became angry^(H) with them. He sold them^(I) into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, ⁸ who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead,^(J) the land of the Amorites. ⁹ The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah,^(K) Benjamin and Ephraim;^(L) Israel was in great distress. ¹⁰ Then the Israelites cried^(M) out to the Lord, “We have sinned^(N) against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.”^(O)

¹¹ The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians,^(P) the Amorites,^(Q) the Ammonites,^(R) the Philistines,^{(S) 12} the Sidonians, the Amalekites^(T) and the Maonites^[a](U) oppressed you^(V) and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? ¹³ But you have forsaken^(W) me and served other gods,^(X) so I will no longer save you. ¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save^(Y) you when you are in trouble!^(Z)”

¹⁵ But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best,^(AA) but please rescue us now.” ¹⁶ Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord.^(AB) And he could bear Israel’s misery^(AC) no longer.^(AD)

²⁹ Then the Spirit^(A) of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah^(B) of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.^{(C) 30} And Jephthah made a vow^(D) to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, ³¹ whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph^(E) from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.^(F)”

³² Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. ³³ He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith,^(G) as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

³⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing^(H) to the sound of timbrels!^(I) She was an only child.^(J) Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes^(K) and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.^(L)”

³⁶ “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised,^(M) now that the Lord has avenged you^(N) of your enemies,^(O) the Ammonites. ³⁷ But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

³⁸ “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. ³⁹ After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition ⁴⁰ that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.