Judges 11
1 Now, Jephthah the Gileadite, was a mighty man of valour, but, he, was the son of an unchaste woman, —yet Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
2 And the wife of Gilead bare him sons, —and, when the wife’s sons grew up, they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him—Thou shalt not inherit with the house of our father, for, son of an alien woman, art thou.
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 So Jephthah fled from the face of his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob, —and there gathered about Jephthah unemployed men, who went forth with him.
So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.
4 And so it came to pass, after a time, —that the sons of Ammon made war with Israel.
Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel
5 When, therefore, it came to pass that the sons of Ammon made war with Israel, then went the elders of Gilead, to summon Jephthah out of the land of Tob.
and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6 And they said to Jephthah, Oh! come and be our commander, —that we may do battle with the sons of Ammon.
“Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”
7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Have not, ye, hated me, and thrust me out from the house of my father? Wherefore then, are ye come unto me, now, when ye are in distress?
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 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah—Therefore, have we, now, returned unto thee, that, if thou go with us, and do battle with the sons of Ammon, then shalt thou become our head, for all the inhabitants 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 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead—If ye do bring me back to do battle with the sons of Ammon, and Yahweh deliver them up before me, shall, I myself, become your head?
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 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah—Yahweh himself, will be hearkening between us, if, according to thy word, so, we do not.
And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.”
11 Then went Jephthah with the elders of Gilead, and the people set him over them, as head and commander, —and Jephthah spake all his words before Yahweh, in 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 So then Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, —What occasion is there between us, that thou shouldst have come unto me, to fight against 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 And the king of the sons of Ammon said unto the messengers of Jephthah—Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan, —now, therefore, restore them in peace.
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 And Jephthah yet once more sent messengers unto the king of the sons of Ammon;
Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites
15 and said unto him, Thus, saith Jephthah, —Israel took not away the land of Moab, or the land of the sons of Ammon;
to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites.
16 for, when they came up out of Egypt, and Israel journeyed through the desert as far as the Red Sea, and came in unto Kadesh,
But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17 then did Israel send messengers unto the king of Edom, saying—Let me pass, I pray thee, through thy land, but the king of Edom hearkened not, unto the king of Moab also, sent they, but he would not consent, —so Israel abode in 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 Then journeyed they through the desert, and went round the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and so came, from the rising of the sun, to the land of Moab, but encamped beyond Arnon, —and entered not within the boundary of Moab, for, Arnon, is the boundary of Moab.
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 did Israel send messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, —and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land as far as my own place.
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 trusted not Israel, to pass through his boundary, so Sihon gathered together all his people, and encamped in Jahaz, —and fought against Israel.
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 Then did Yahweh, God of Israel, deliver up Sihon, and all his people, into the hand of Israel, and they smote them, —so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land.
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 Yea they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, —from Arnon, even as far as the Jabbok, and from the desert, even as far as the Jordan.
seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23 Now, therefore, it was, Yahweh God of Israel, that dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, —and shalt, thou, possess it?
Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it?
24 What Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess, that, wilt thou not possess? and, whatsoever Yahweh our God hath set before us to possess, that, shall we not possess?
Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.
25 Now, therefore, art thou, really better, than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Hath there been any, striving at all, with Israel, or any, fighting at all, with 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 all the time that Israel hath been dwelling in Heshbon and in her towns, and in Aroer and in her towns, and in all the cities that are on the banks of Arnon, —for three hundred years? Wherefore, then, have ye not made a rescue within 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, therefore, have not sinned against thee; but, thou, art doing me a wrong, in fighting against me, —Let Yahweh, the Judge, give judgment today, between the sons of Israel, and the sons of Ammon!
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 the sons of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah, which he sent unto him.
But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.
29 Then came upon Jephthah the spirit of Yahweh, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, —and passed through Mizpeh of Gilead, and, from Mizpeh of Gilead, he passed through [unto] the sons of Ammon.
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 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Yahweh, and said, —If thou wilt, deliver, the sons of Ammon into my hand,
Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,
31 then shall it be, that, whosoever cometh forth out of the doors of my house, to meet me, when I return successful, from the sons of Ammon, shall belong unto Yahweh, and I will offer him up, as an ascending-sacrifice.
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 So then Jephthah passed over unto the sons of Ammon, to fight against them, —and Yahweh delivered them into his hand;
So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
33 and he smote them, from Aroer even till thou enterest in to Minnith, even twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with an exceeding great smiting, —and thus were the sons of Ammon subdued before the sons of Israel.
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 Then came Jephthah towards Mizpah, unto his own house, and lo! his daughter, coming forth to meet him, with timbrels, and with dances, —and, she, was none other than his only child, he had not, besides her, either son or daughter.
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 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said—Alas! my daughter, Thou hast, brought me low, Even, thou, hast come to be among them who trouble me, —Yet, I, opened wide my mouth unto Yahweh, and cannot go back.
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 And she said unto him—My father! Thou hast opened wide thy mouth unto Yahweh, Do with me, according to that which hath gone forth out of thy mouth, —after that Yahweh hath exacted for thee an avenging from thine enemies, from the sons of Ammon.
“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 And she said unto her father, Let this thing, be done for me, —Let me alone two months, that I may depart, and go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.
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 And he said—Depart. So he let her go, for two months, —and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity, upon the mountains.
“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 And it came to pass, at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, and he fulfilled on her his vow which he had vowed, —she not having known man. And it became a statute, 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 From year to year, departed the daughters of Israel, to lament aloud for the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in the year.
that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
