Judges 11
1 Jephthah of Gilead was a strong fighter. He was the son of a prostitute, and his father was Gilead.
Fuit illo tempore Jephte Galaadites vir fortissimus atque pugnator, filius mulieris meretricis, qui natus est de Galaad.
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.”
Habuit autem Galaad uxorem, de qua suscepit filios: qui postquam creverant, ejecerunt Jephte, dicentes: Hæres in domo patris nostri esse non poteris, quia de altera matre natus es.
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.
Quos ille fugiens atque devitans, habitavit in terra Tob: congregatique sunt ad eum viri inopes, et latrocinantes, et quasi principem sequebantur.
4 Later on, the Ammonites were at war with Israel.
In illis diebus pugnabant filii Ammon contra Israël.
5 As the Ammonites were attacking Israel, the elders of Gilead came to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
Quibus acriter instantibus perrexerunt majores natu de Galaad, ut tollerent in auxilium sui Jephte de terra Tob:
6 “Come and be our army commander,” they asked Jepthah, “so we can fight the Ammonites.”
dixeruntque ad eum: Veni et esto princeps noster, et pugna contra filios Ammon.
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?”
Quibus ille respondit: Nonne vos estis, qui odistis me, et ejecistis de domo patris mei? et nunc venistis ad me necessitate compulsi.
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.”
Dixeruntque principes Galaad ad Jephte: Ob hanc igitur causam nunc ad te venimus, ut proficiscaris nobiscum, et pugnes contra filios Ammon, sisque dux omnium qui habitant in Galaad.
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.
Jephte quoque dixit eis: Si vere venistis ad me, ut pugnem pro vobis contra filios Ammon, tradideritque eos Dominus in manus meas, ego ero vester princeps?
10 “The Lord will be a witness between us,” they replied. “We'll do whatever you say.”
Qui responderunt ei: Dominus, qui hæc audit, ipse mediator ac testis est quod nostra promissa faciemus.
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.
Abiit itaque Jephte cum principibus Galaad, fecitque eum omnis populus principem sui. Locutusque est Jephte omnes sermones suos coram Domino in Maspha.
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?”
Et misit nuntios ad regem filiorum Ammon, qui ex persona sua dicerent: Quid mihi et tibi est, quia venisti contra me, ut vastares terram meam?
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.”
Quibus ille respondit: Quia tulit Israël terram meam, quando ascendit de Ægypto, a finibus Arnon usque Jaboc atque Jordanem: nunc ergo cum pace redde mihi eam.
14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of the Ammonites
Per quos rursum mandavit Jephte, et imperavit eis ut dicerent regi Ammon:
15 to tell him, “This is Jephthah's reply: The Israelites did not take any land from Moab or from the Ammonites.
Hæc dicit Jephte: Non tulit Israël terram Moab, nec terram filiorum Ammon:
16 When they left Egypt, the Israelites went through the desert to the Red Sea and arrived at Kadesh.
sed quando de Ægypto conscenderunt, ambulavit per solitudinem usque ad mare Rubrum, et venit in Cades.
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.
Misitque nuntios ad regem Edom, dicens: Dimitte me ut transeam per terram tuam. Qui noluit acquiescere precibus ejus. Misit quoque ad regem Moab, qui et ipse transitum præbere contempsit. Mansit itaque in Cades,
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.
et circuivit ex latere terram Edom et terram Moab: venitque contra orientalem plagam terræ Moab, et castrametatus est trans Arnon: nec voluit intrare terminos Moab. (Arnon quippe confinium est terræ Moab.)
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.’
Misit itaque Israël nuntios ad Sehon regem Amorrhæorum, qui habitabat in Hesebon, et dixerunt ei: Dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam usque ad fluvium.
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.
Qui et ipse Israël verba despiciens, non dimisit eum transire per terminos suos: sed infinita multitudine congregata, egressus est contra eum in Jasa, et fortiter resistebat.
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.
Tradiditque eum Dominus in manus Israël cum omni exercitu suo: qui percussit eum, et possedit omnem terram Amorrhæi habitatoris regionis illius,
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.
et universos fines ejus, de Arnon usque Jaboc, et de solitudine usque ad Jordanem.
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?
Dominus ergo Deus Israël subvertit Amorrhæum, pugnante contra illum populo suo Israël, et tu nunc vis possidere terram ejus?
24 Why don't you keep whatever your god Chemosh gave you, and we'll keep whatever the Lord our God has given us?
nonne ea quæ possidet Chamos deus tuus, tibi jure debentur? quæ autem Dominus Deus noster victor obtinuit, in nostram cedent possessionem:
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?
nisi forte melior es Balac filio Sephor rege Moab; aut docere potes, quod jurgatus sit contra Israël, et pugnaverit contra eum,
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?
quando habitavit in Hesebon et viculis ejus, et in Aroër et villis illius, vel in cunctis civitatibus juxta Jordanem, per trecentos annos. Quare tanto tempore nihil super hac repetitione tentastis?
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.”
Igitur non ego pecco in te, sed tu contra me male agis, indicens mihi bella non justa. Judicet Dominus arbiter hujus diei inter Israël, et inter filios Ammon.
28 But the king of Ammon didn't pay any attention to what Jephthah had to say.
Noluitque acquiescere rex filiorum Ammon verbis Jephte, quæ per nuntios mandaverat.
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.
Factus est ergo super Jephte spiritus Domini, et circuiens Galaad et Manasse, Maspha quoque Galaad, et inde transiens ad filios Ammon,
30 Jephthah made a solemn promise to the Lord, saying, “If you make me victorious over the Ammonites,
votum vovit Domino, dicens: Si tradideris filios Ammon in manus meas,
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.”
quicumque primus fuerit egressus de foribus domus meæ, mihique occurrerit revertenti cum pace a filiis Ammon, eum holocaustum offeram Domino.
32 Jephthah advanced to attack the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him the victory over them.
Transivitque Jephte ad filios Ammon, ut pugnaret contra eos: quos tradidit Dominus in manus ejus.
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.
Percussitque ab Aroër usque dum venias in Mennith, viginti civitates, et usque ad Abel, quæ est vineis consita, plaga magna nimis: humiliatique sunt filii Ammon a filiis Israël.
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.
Revertente autem Jephte in Maspha domum suam, occurrit ei unigenita filia sua cum tympanis et choris: non enim habebat alios liberos.
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.”
Qua visa, scidit vestimenta sua, et ait: Heu me, filia mea! decepisti me, et ipsa decepta es: aperui enim os meum ad Dominum, et aliud facere non potero.
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.”
Cui illa respondit: Pater mi, si aperuisti os tuum ad Dominum, fac mihi quodcumque pollicitus es, concessa tibi ultione atque victoria de hostibus tuis.
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.”
Dixitque ad patrem: Hoc solum mihi præsta quod deprecor: dimitte me ut duobus mensibus circumeam montes, et plangam virginitatem meam cum sodalibus meis.
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.
Cui ille respondit: Vade. Et dimisit eam duobus mensibus. Cumque abiisset cum sociis ac sodalibus suis, flebat virginitatem suam in montibus.
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
Expletisque duobus mensibus, reversa est ad patrem suum, et fecit ei sicut voverat, quæ ignorabat virum. Exinde mos increbruit in Israël, et consuetudo servata est,
40 that every year the young women of Israel leave for four days to weep in commemoration of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
ut post anni circulum conveniant in unum filiæ Israël, et plangant filiam Jephte Galaaditæ diebus quatuor.
