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Judges 11:34-40
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Judges 11:34-40
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
34 When Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah, it was his daughter who came out to meet him, with tambourine-playing and dancing. She was his only child: he had neither son nor daughter besides her. 35 When he saw her, he tore his garments and said, “Ah, my daughter! You have struck me down and brought calamity upon me. For I have made a vow[a] to the Lord and I cannot take it back.”(A) 36 “Father,” she replied, “you have made a vow to the Lord. Do with me as you have vowed, because the Lord has taken vengeance for you against your enemies the Ammonites.” 37 Then she said to her father, “Let me have this favor. Do nothing for two months, that I and my companions may go wander in the mountains to weep for my virginity.” 38 “Go,” he replied, and sent her away for two months. So she departed with her companions and wept for her virginity in the mountains. 39 At the end of the two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She had not had relations with any man.
It became a custom in Israel 40 for Israelite women to go yearly to mourn the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days of the year.
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Judges 11:34-40
New International Version
Judges 11:34-40
New International Version
34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing(A) to the sound of timbrels!(B) She was an only child.(C) Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes(D) 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.(E)”
36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised,(F) now that the Lord has avenged you(G) of your enemies,(H) 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.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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