Jephthah's Tragic Vow
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f Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.
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And Jephthah g made a vow to the Lord and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand,
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then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites h shall be the Lord's, and i I will offer it up for a burnt offering."
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So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand.
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And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of j Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
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Then Jephthah came to his home at k Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him l with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
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And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, m and I cannot take back my vow."
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And she said to him, "My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites."
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So she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions."
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So he said, "Go." Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains.
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And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, n who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel
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that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
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Cross References
Judges 3:10
The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.
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Cross References
Genesis 28:20
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear.
1 Samuel 1:11
And she vowed a vow and said, "O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.
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Cross References
Leviticus 27:2
Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons.
1 Samuel 1:28
Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord." And he worshiped the Lord there.
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Cross References
Psalms 66:13
I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 27:17
Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm.
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Cross References
Judges 11:11
So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.
Judges 10:17
Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah.
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Cross References
Exodus 15:20
Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.
1 Samuel 18:6
As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
Psalms 68:25
The singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines:
Jeremiah 31:4
Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
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Cross References
Numbers 30:2
If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
Ecclesiastes 5:4 - 5
When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.
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Cross References
Judges 11:31
Then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord 's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.