Jephthah

Jephthah made a vow to the LORD.
“If you deliver the Ammonites into my power,” he said,
“whoever comes out of the doors of my house
to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites
shall belong to the LORD.
I shall offer him up as a burnt offering.”
—Judges 11:29-39a

Better to have faltered, Jephthah;
better to have failed.
Better to have fallen, bested,
on the battlefield.
Better to have broke your promise;
better have betrayed.
Better would be broken honor
than this keeping faith.

Who are you to vow such slaughter?
Better to have held your breath
for the blessing of your daughter.
God disposes life and death.
God, who makes the nations, breaks them;
you, the mattock in his hand,
ready earth for seeds.  He wakes them,
bringing bounty from the land.

Better to have backslid, Jephthah—
God is mercy, ‘bove all else.
Better to have seen your error,
risking judgment on yourself,
crying out, “Forgive me, Father,
that I do not take the knife.”
God had given you your daughter;
better to have spared her life.