34 When Yiftah got back to his house in the Mizpah area, look, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. She was their only child—he didn’t have any son or daughter apart from her. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! Indeed, you’ve made me bow in grief, and you’re among those who cause me pain, because I made a vow to Yahweh and I can’t go back on it.”

36 Then she said to him, “My father, you’ve made a vow to Yahweh. Do to me whatever you promised, after what Yahweh has done for you—total vengeance against your Ammonite enemies.” 37 But she asked her father, “Just do this one thing for me: release me for two months, so I can go away and take some companions. I’ll fall prostrate on the hills and I’ll weep because I’ll never have a chance to marry.” 38 He agreed and then sent her away for two months. She went with some companions, and she wept on the hills because she’d never be a mother. 39 Then at the end of the two months, she returned to her father and he carried out his vow with respect to her so indeed she never had a chance to marry.

After that, it became a custom in Israel 40 that the young women of Israel go to commemorate the daughter of Yiftah the Gileadite for four days during the year.