Judges 11
1 There was at that time Jephte the Galaadite, a most valiant man and a warrior, the son of a woman that was a harlot, and his father was Galaad.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a great man of war; he was the son of a loose woman, and Gilead was his father.
2 Now Galaad had a wife of whom he had sons: who after they were grown up, thrust out Jephte, saying: Thou canst not inherit in the house of our father, because thou art born of another mother.
And Gilead's wife gave birth to sons, and when her sons became men, they sent Jephthah away, saying, You have no part in the heritage of our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.
3 Then he fled and avoided them and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered to him needy men, and robbers, and they followed him as their prince.
So Jephthah went in flight from his brothers and was living in the land of Tob, where a number of good-for-nothing men, joining Jephthah, went out with him on his undertakings.
4 In those days the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
Now after a time the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 And as they pressed hard upon them, the ancients of Galaad went to fetch Jephte out of the land of Tob to help them:
And when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the responsible men of Gilead went to get Jephthah back from the land of Tob;
6 And they said to him: Come thou and be our prince, and fight against the children of Ammon.
And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief so that we may make war against the children of Ammon.
7 And he answered them: Are not you the men that hated me, and cast me out of my father’s house, and now you are come to me constrained by necessity?
But Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, Did you not, in your hate for me, send me away from my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?
8 And the princes of Galaad said to Jephte: For this cause we are now come to thee, that thou mayst go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be head over all the inhabitants of Galaad.
And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is the reason we have come back to you; so go with us and make war against the children of Ammon, and we will make you our head over all the people of Gilead.
9 Jephte also said to them: If you be come to me sincerely, that I should fight for you against the children of Ammon, and the Lord shall deliver them into my band, shall I be your prince?
Then Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, If you take me back to make war against the children of Ammon, and if with the help of the Lord I overcome them, will you make me your head?
10 They answered him: The Lord who heareth these things, he himself is mediator and witness that we will do as we have promised.
And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, May the Lord be our witness: we will certainly do as you say.
11 Jephte therefore went with the princes of Galaad, and all the people made him their prince. And Jephte spoke all his words before the Lord in Maspha.
So Jephthah went with the responsible men of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah said all these things before the Lord in Mizpah.
12 And he sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, to say in his name, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me, to waste my land?
Then Jephthah sent men to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you against me that you have come to make war against my land?
13 And he answered them: I Because Israel took away my land when he came up out of Egypt, from the confines of the Arnon unto the Jaboc and the Jordan: now therefore restore the same peaceably to me.
And the king of the children of Ammon said to the men sent by Jephthah, Because Israel, when he came up out of Egypt, took away my land, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and as far as Jordan: so now, give me back those lands quietly.
14 And Jephte again sent word by them, and commanded them to say to the king of Ammon:
And Jephthah sent again to the king of the children of Ammon,
15 Thus saith Jephte: Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
And said to him, This is the word of Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon;
16 But when they came up out of Egypt, he walked through the desert to the Red Sea and came into Cades.
But when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the waste land to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh;
17 And he sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying: Suffer me to pass through thy land. But he would not condescend to his request. He sent also to the king of Moab, who likewise refused to give him passage. He abode therefore in Cades,
Then Israel sent men to the king of Edom saying, Let me now go through your land; but the king of Edom did not give ear to them. And in the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not; so Israel went on living in Kadesh.
18 And went round the land of Edom at the side, and the land of Moab: and came over against the east coast of the land of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon: and he would not enter the bounds of Moab.
Then he went on through the waste land and round the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon; they did not come inside the limit of Moab, for the Arnon was the limit of Moab.
19 So Israel sent messengers to Sehon king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in Hesebon, and they said to him: Suffer me to pass through thy land to the river.
And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let me now go through your land to my place.
20 But he also despising the words of Israel, suffered him not to pass through his borders: but gathering an infinite multitude, went out against him to Jasa, and made strong opposition.
But Sihon would not give way and let Israel go through his land; and Sihon got together all his people, and put his army in position in Jahaz, and made war on Israel.
21 And the Lord delivered him with all his army into the hands of Israel, and he slew him, and possessed all the land of the Amorrhite the inhabitant of that country,
And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, and they overcame them; so all the land of the Amorites, the people of that land, became Israel's.
22 And all the coasts thereof from the Arnon to the Jaboc, and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
All the limit of the Amorites was theirs, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and from the waste land even to Jordan.
23 So the Lord the God of Israel destroyed the Amorrhite, his people of Israel fighting against him, and wilt thou now possess this land?
So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has taken away their land from the Amorites and given it to his people Israel; are you then to have it?
24 Are not those things which thy god Chamos possesseth, due to thee by right? But what the Lord our God hath obtained by conquest, shall be our possession:
Do you not keep the lands of those whom Chemosh your god sends out from before you? So we will keep all the lands of those whom the Lord our God sends out from before us.
25 Unless perhaps thou art better than Balac the son of Sephor king of Moab: or canst shew that he strove against Israel and fought against him,
What! are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever take up a cause against Israel or make war against them?
26 Whereas he hath dwelt in Hesebon, and the villages thereof, and in Aroer, and its villages, and in all the cities near the Jordan, for three hundred years. Why have you for so long a time attempted nothing about this claim?
While Israel was living in Heshbon and its daughter-towns and in Aroer and its daughter-towns and in all the towns which are by the side of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not get them back at that time?
27 Therefore I do not trespass against thee, but thou wrongest me by declaring an unjust war against me. The Lord be judge and decide this day between Israel and the children of Ammon.
So I have done no wrong against you, but you are doing wrong to me in fighting against me: may the Lord, who is Judge this day, be judge between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
28 And the king of the children of Ammon would not hearken to the words of Jephte, which he sent him by the messengers.
The king of the children of Ammon, however, did not give ear to the words which Jephthah sent to him.
29 Therefore the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephte, and going round Galaad, and Manasses, and Maspha of Galaad, and passing over from thence to the children of Ammon,
Then the spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, and he went through Gilead and Manasseh, and came to Mizpeh of Gilead; and from Mizpeh of Gilead he went over to the children of Ammon.
30 He made a vow to the Lord, saying: If thou wilt deliver the children of Ammon into my hands,
And Jephthah took an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give the children of Ammon into my hands,
31 Whosoever shall first come forth out of the doors of my house, and shall meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, the same will I offer a holocaust to the Lord.
Then whoever comes out from the door of my house, meeting me when I come back in peace from the children of Ammon, will be the Lord's and I will give him as a burned offering.
32 And Jephte passed over to the children of Ammon, to fight against them: and the Lord delivered them into his hands.
So Jephthah went over to the children of Ammon to make war on them; and the Lord gave them into his hands.
33 And he smote them from Aroer till you come to Mennith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel, which is set with vineyards, with a very great slaughter: and the children of Ammon were humbled by the children of Israel.
And he made an attack on them from Aroer all the way to Minnith, overrunning twenty towns, as far as Abel-cheramim, and put great numbers to the sword. So the children of Ammon were crushed before the children of Israel.
34 And when Jephte returned into Maspha to his house, his only daughter met him with timbrels and with dances: for he had no other children.
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.
35 And when he saw her, he rent his garments, and said: Alas! my daughter, thou hast deceived me, and thou thyself art deceived: for I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I can do no other thing.
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.
36 And she answered him: My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth to the Lord, do unto me whatsoever thou hast promised, since the victory hath been granted to thee, and revenge of thy enemies.
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.
37 And she said to her father: Grant me only this which I desire: Let me go, that I may go about the mountains for two months, and may bewail my virginity with my companions.
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.
38 And he answered her: Go. And he sent her away for two months. And when she was gone with her comrades and companions, she mourned her virginity in the mountains.
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.
39 And the two months being expired, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed, and she knew no man. From thence came a fashion in Israel, and a custom has been kept:
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,
40 That from year to year the daughters of Israel assemble together, and lament the daughter of Jephte the Galaadite for four days.
For the women to go year by year sorrowing for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in every year.
