Judges 11:33-38

³³Jephthah and his men killed them, from Aroer city all the way to the area around th/e city of Minnith. They destroyed twenty cities, as far as the city of Abel Keramim. So the Israelis completely defeated the Ammon people-group.

³⁴When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, his daughter was the first one to come out of the house to meet him. She was joyfully playing a tambourine and dancing. She was his only child; he had no sons and no other daughters.

³⁵When Jephthah saw his daughter, he tore his clothes to show that he was very sad about what he was going to do. He said to her, “My daughter, you have caused me to become very sad DOU because I made a solemn promise to Yahweh to sacrifice the first one who came out of my house, and I must do what I promised.”

³⁶His daughter said, “My father, you made a solemn promise to Yahweh. So you must do to me what you promised, because you said that you would do that if Yahweh helped you to defeat our enemies, the Ammon people-group.”

³⁷Then she also said, “But allow me to do one thing. ◄First/before you do what you promised►, allow me to go up into the hilly area and wander around for two months. Since I will never be married and have children, allow me and my friends to go and cry together.”

³⁸Jephthah replied, “All right, you may go.” So she left for two months. She and her friends stayed in the hills and they cried for her because she would never be married.