Bible in Basic English
Then she said to her father, Only do this for me: let me have two months to go away into the mountains with my friends, weeping for my sad fate.
And he said, Go then. So he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends to the mountains, weeping for her sad fate.
And at the end of two months she went back to her father, who did with her as he had said in his oath: and she had never been touched by a man. So it became a rule in Israel,
For the women to go year by year sorrowing for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in every year.
— Judges 11:37-1964, Bible in Basic English
“And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel, That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. ”
Then Jephthah came back to his house in Mizpah, and his daughter came out, meeting him on his way with music and with dances; she was his only child; he had no other sons or daughters.
And when he saw her he was overcome with grief, and said, Ah! my daughter! I am crushed with sorrow, and it is you who are the chief cause of my trouble; for I have made an oath to the Lord and I may not take it back.
And she said to him, My father, you have made an oath to the Lord; do then to me whatever you have said; for the Lord has sent a full reward on your haters, on the children of Ammon.
Then she said to her father, Only do this for me: let me have two months to go away into the mountains with my friends, weeping for my sad fate.
And he said, Go then. So he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends to the mountains, weeping for her sad fate.
And at the end of two months she went back to her father, who did with her as he had said in his oath: and she had never been touched by a man. So it became a rule in Israel,
For the women to go year by year sorrowing for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in every year.