From the Book of Judges
Jephthah’s Vow
♪ Synced lyrics coming soon
Verse 1
They threw me from my father’s house, the harlot’s son
Said no inheritance was mine, when all was said and done
Then the Ammonites came howling and the elders learned to plead
Came begging through the wilderness, the man they used to need
Pre-Chorus
And the spirit of the Lord came down on me like rain
I lifted up my voice in the camp on Mizpeh’s plain
Chorus
I have opened my mouth unto the Lord
I have opened my mouth unto the Lord
And I cannot, I cannot go back
For I have opened my mouth unto the Lord
Verse 2
Whatsoever crosses my doorway when I return
That will be the Lord’s alone, that will I offer up and burn
We struck them at Aroer, twenty cities laid down low
And I rode home in the morning where the wind began to blow
Pre-Chorus
Then I saw her at the doorway with the timbrels in her hands
My only child, my daughter, and the world fell from my hands
Chorus
I have opened my mouth unto the Lord
I have opened my mouth unto the Lord
And I cannot, I cannot go back
For I have opened my mouth unto the Lord
Bridge
She said father, you have spoken, you cannot take it back
Give me two months on the mountain, time to mourn the lack
Of the daughters never born, of the line that ends with mine
And the wind heard her weeping in the cold pale evening light
Chorus
I have opened my mouth unto the Lord
I have opened my mouth unto the Lord
And I cannot, I cannot go back
For I have opened my mouth unto the Lord
Outro
And the daughters still go up, four days a year
Four days a year, four days a year
To remember a girl whose father loved her dear
And the words that came out of his mouth
Four days a year