Judges 11
1 Jephthah of Gilead was a strong fighter. He was the son of a prostitute, and his father was Gilead.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
2 Gilead's wife gave him sons, who when they grew up, drove Jephthah away, telling him, “You won't inherit anything from our father because you are another woman's son.”
And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”
3 Jephthah ran away from his brothers and went to live in the land of Tob. A gang of trouble-makers joined him and he led them out on raids.
So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.
4 Later on, the Ammonites were at war with Israel.
Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel
5 As the Ammonites were attacking Israel, the elders of Gilead came to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6 “Come and be our army commander,” they asked Jepthah, “so we can fight the Ammonites.”
“Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”
7 “Weren't you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father's house?” Jephthah asked them, “Why are you coming to me now you're in trouble?”
Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”
8 “Yes, that's why we've turned to you now,” the elders of Gilead replied. “Come with us and fight the Ammonites, and you will be the leader of all the people of Gilead.”
They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.”
9 “So if I go back with you and fight the Ammonites, and the Lord makes me victorious, then I'll be your leader?” Jephthah asked the elders of Gilead.
But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, will I really be your leader?”
10 “The Lord will be a witness between us,” they replied. “We'll do whatever you say.”
And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.”
11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and army commander. And Jephthah repeated all his conditions before the Lord at Mizpah.
So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to ask him, “What have you got against me that you want to attack my land?”
Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?”
13 The king of the Ammonites replied to Jephthah's messengers, “Israel seized my land when they came from Egypt. It extended from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and across to the Jordan River. So give it back and there'll be no fighting.”
The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”
14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of the Ammonites
Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites
15 to tell him, “This is Jephthah's reply: The Israelites did not take any land from Moab or from the Ammonites.
to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites.
16 When they left Egypt, the Israelites went through the desert to the Red Sea and arrived at Kadesh.
But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17 They sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your country,’ but the king of Edom refused to listen. They also sent the same request to the king of Moab, and he refused too. So they remained at Kadesh.
Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.
18 Eventually the Israelites traveled through the desert, avoiding the lands of Edom and Moab. They arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they did not enter Moab territory, for the Arnon River was its border.
Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border.
19 Then the Israelites sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, and asked him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our own country.’
And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’
20 But Sihon didn't trust the Israelites to pass through his territory. So he assembled his army, set up camp at Jahaz, and attacked the Israelites.
But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
21 However, the Lord, the God of Israel, handed over Sihon and all his people to the Israelites, who defeated them. So the Israelites took over all the land inhabited by the Amorites.
Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country,
22 They occupied all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the desert to the Jordan River.
seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23 It was the Lord, the God of Israel, who drove out the Amorites before his people Israel, so why should you take it over?
Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it?
24 Why don't you keep whatever your god Chemosh gave you, and we'll keep whatever the Lord our God has given us?
Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.
25 Do you think you're so much better than Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or attack them?
Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?
26 Israelites have been living in Heshbon, Aroer, their villages, and in all the towns along the banks of the Arnon River for three hundred years. Why didn't you take them back during that time?
For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time?
27 I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by going to war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
28 But the king of Ammon didn't pay any attention to what Jephthah had to say.
But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then on through Mizpah of Gilead. From there he advanced to attack the Ammonites.
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
30 Jephthah made a solemn promise to the Lord, saying, “If you make me victorious over the Ammonites,
Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,
31 I will dedicate to the Lord whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me on my safe return from the battle. I will present it as a burnt offering.”
then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32 Jephthah advanced to attack the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him the victory over them.
So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
33 He soundly defeated them, capturing twenty cities from Aroer to the area around Minnith, up as far as Abel-keramim. This is how the Ammonites were conquered by the Israelites.
With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.
34 When Jephthah arrived home in Mizpah, there came his daughter out to meet him, with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child—he had no son or daughter apart from her.
And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
35 The moment he saw her, he ripped his clothes in agony and cried out, “Oh no, my daughter! You have crushed me completely! You have destroyed me, for I made a solemn promise to the Lord and I can't go back on it.”
As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”
36 She replied, “Father, you have made a solemn promise to the Lord. Do to me what you promised, for the Lord brought vengeance your enemies, the Ammonites.”
“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.”
37 Then she went on to say to him, “Just let me do this: let me walk through the hills for two months with my friends and grieve the fact that I'll never marry.”
She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”
38 “You can go,” he told her. He sent her away for two months, and she and her friends went into the hills and cried because she would never marry.
“Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains.
39 When the two months were over, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had promised, and she was a virgin. This is the origin of the custom in Israel
After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Israel
40 that every year the young women of Israel leave for four days to weep in commemoration of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
