Judges 11
1 [There was a man] from [the] Gilead [region] named Jephthah. He was a great warrior. His father was also named Gilead. But his mother was a prostitute.
And Jephthae the Galaadite [was] a mighty man; and he [was] the son of a harlot, who bore Jephthae to Galaad.
2 Gilead’s wife gave birth to several sons. When they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave home, saying to him, “You are the son of a prostitute, [not the son of our mother]. So [when] our father [dies], you will not receive any of his property.”
And the wife of Galaad bore him sons; and the sons of his wife grew up, and they cast out Jephthae, and said to him, Thou shalt not inherit in the house of our father, for thou art the son of a concubine.
3 So Jephthah ran away from his brothers, and he went to the Tob region. While he was there, some worthless men started to spend a lot of time with him.
And Jephthae fled from the face of his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and vain men gathered to Jephthae, and went out with him.
4 Some time later, the Ammon people-group started to fight against the Israelis.
And it came to pass when the children of Ammon prepared to fight with Israel,
5 When that happened [DOU], the leaders of [the] Gilead [region] went to Jephthah to bring him back from the Tob region [to their area].
that the elders of Galaad went to fetch Jephthae from the land of Tob.
6 They said to him, “Come [with us] and lead our army, and [help us to] fight against the men from the Ammon people-group!”
And they said to Jephthae, Come, and be our head, and we will fight with the sons of Ammon.
7 But Jephthah replied, “You hated me [RHQ] previously! You forced me to leave my father’s house! So why are you coming to me now, [asking me to help you] when you are experiencing trouble?”
And Jephthae said to the elders of Galaad, Did ye not hate me, and cast me out of my father's house, and banish me from you? and wherefore are ye come to me now when ye want me?
8 The leaders from Gilead replied, “[Yes, we are having trouble, and] that is the reason that we have come to you now. If you come with us and [help us to] fight against the Ammon people-group, [after we defeat them, we will appoint] you to be the leader of all us people in [the] Gilead [region].”
And the elders of Galaad said to Jephthae, Therefore have we now turned to thee, that thou shouldest go with us, and fight against the sons of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Galaad.
9 Jephthah replied, “If I go back to Gilead with you to fight against the Ammon people-group, and if Yahweh helps us to defeat them, will you truly appoint me to be your leader?”
And Jephthae said to the elders of Galaad, If ye turn me back to fight with the children of Ammon, and the Lord should deliver them before me, then will I be your head.
10 They replied, “Yahweh is listening to everything that we say. [So he will punish us] if we do not do everything that you tell us to do.”
And the elders of Galaad said to Jephthae, The Lord be witness between us, if we shall not do according to thy word.
11 So Jephthah went with them back to [the] Gilead [region], and the people appointed him to be their leader and the commander of their army. And Jephthah solemnly promised to Yahweh there at Mizpah [to serve him well].
And Jephthae went with the elders of Galaad, and the people made him head and ruler over them: and Jephthae spoke all his words before the Lord in Massepha.
12 Jephthah sent some messengers to the king of the Ammon people-group. They asked the king, “What have we [done to make you angry, with the result] that your army is coming to fight [against the people] in our land?”
And Jephthae sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have I to do with thee, that thou hast come against me to fight in my land?
13 The king replied, “[We have come to fight against you Israelis because] you took our land when you came here from Egypt. You took all our land east of the Jordan [River], from the Arnon [River in the south] to the Jabbok [River in the north]. So if you now give it back to us, there (will be peace between us/we will not fight against you).”
And the king of the children of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthae, Because Israel took my land when he went up out of Egypt, from Arnon to Jaboc, and to Jordan: now then return them peaceably and I will depart.
14 [The messengers returned to Jephthah and told him what the king had said]. So Jephthah sent the messengers to the king again.
And Jephthae again sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon,
15 They said to him, “This is what Jephthah says: ‘It is not [true] that we Israelis took the land from the Moab people-group and the Ammon people-group.
and said to him, Thus says Jephthae, Israel took not the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon;
16 When the Israeli people came out of Egypt, they walked through the desert to the Red Sea, and then [walked across it and traveled to Kadesh town at the border of the Edom region].
for in their going up out of Egypt Israel went in the wilderness as far as the sea of Siph, and came to Cades.
17 They sent messengers to the king of the Edom people-group, to say to him, “Please allow us Israelis to walk across your land.” But the king of the Edom people-group refused. Later we sent the same message to the king of the Moab people-group, but he also refused to allow the Israelis to go through his land. So the Israelis stayed at Kadesh [for a long time].
And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, I will pass, if it please thee, by thy land: and the king of Edom complied not: and [Israel] also sent to the king of Moab, and he did not consent; and Israel sojourned in Cades.
18 Then the Israelis went into the desert and walked outside the borders of the Edom and Moab regions. They walked east of the Moab region, east of the Arnon [River, which is the eastern border of the Moab region]. They did not cross that river to enter [the] Moab [region].
And [they] journeyed in the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab: and they came by the east of the land of Moab, an encamped in the country beyond Arnon, and came not within the borders of Moab, for Arnon [is] the border of Moab.
19 ‘Then the Israelis sent a message to Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group, who lived in Heshbon [city]. They asked him, “Will you please allow us Israeli people to cross through your land to arrive at the land to which we [are going].”
And Israel sent messengers to Seon king of the Amorite, king of Esbon, and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray thee, by thy land to our place.
20 But Sihon did not trust the Israelis; [he thought that they would steal some of the things in his land]. So he gathered all his troops and they set up their tents at Jahaz [village] and then they attacked the Israelis.
And Seon did not trust Israel to pass by his coast; and Seon gathered all his people, and they encamped at Jasa; and he set the battle in array against Israel.
21 But Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], enabled the Israeli army to defeat [IDM] Sihon and his army. Then they (took possession of/started to live in) all the land where the Amor people-group had lived.
And the Lord God of Israel delivered Seon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote him; and Israel inherited all the land of the Amorite who dwelt in that land,
22 The Israelis took all the land that belonged to the Amor people-group, from the Arnon [River in the south] to the Jabbok [River in the north], and from the desert [in the east] to the Jordan [River in the west].
from Arnon and to Jaboc, and from the wilderness to Jordan.
23 ‘It was Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], who forced the Amor people-group to leave as the Israelis advanced. So do you now think that you can force the Israelis to leave [RHQ]?
And now the Lord God of Israel has removed the Amorite from before his people Israel, and shalt thou inherit his [land]?
24 You take the land that your god Chemosh has given to you. And we will live in the land that Yahweh our God has given to us!
Wilt thou not inherit those possessions which Chamos thy god shall cause thee to inherit; and shall not we inherit the [land of] all those whom the Lord our God has removed from before you?
25 (You are no/Are you) better than Zippor’s son Balak, who was the king of the Moab people-group? He never [RHQ] quarreled with the Israeli people, and he never started to fight against us [RHQ]!
And now art thou any better than Balac son of Sepphor, king of Moab? did he indeed fight with Israel, or indeed make war with him,
26 For 300 years the Israeli people have lived in Heshbon and Aroer [cities in your region], and in the surrounding towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon [River]. Why have you people of the Ammon people-group not taken back those cities during all those years [RHQ]?
when [Israel] dwelt in Esebon and in its coasts, and in the land of Aroer and in its coasts, and in all the cities by Jordan, three hundred years? and wherefore didst thou not recover them in that time?
27 We have not sinned against you, but you are sinning against me by attacking me [and my army]. I trust that Yahweh, the great judge, will decide whether we Israelis are right, or whether you people of the Ammon people-group are right.’”
And now I have not sinned against thee, but thou wrongest me in preparing war against me: may the Lord the Judge judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
28 But the king of the Ammon people-group did not pay attention to that message from Jephthah.
But the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not to the words of Jephthae, which he sent to him.
29 Then the Spirit of Yahweh took control of Jephthah. Jephthah went through [the] Gilead [region] and through the area where the tribe of Manasseh lived, [to enlist/gather men for his army]. [He finally gathered them together] in Mizpah [city] in [the] Gilead [region] to fight against the Ammon people-group.
And the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthae, and he passed over Galaad, and Manasse, and passed by the watch-tower of Galaad to the other side of the children of Ammon.
30 There Jephthah made a solemn promise to Yahweh. He said, “If you will enable my army to defeat [IDM] the Ammon people-group,
And Jephthae vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand,
31 when I return from the battle, I will sacrifice to you the first person who comes out of my house [to greet me]. It will be a sacrifice that will be completely burned [on the altar].”
then it shall come to pass that whosoever shall first come out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, he shall be the Lord's: I will offer him up for a whole-burnt-offering.
32 Then Jephthah [and his men] went from Mizpah to attack the Ammon people-group, and Yahweh enabled his army to defeat them.
And Jephthae advanced to meet the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hand.
33 Jephthah and his men killed them, from Aroer [city] all the way to the area around the city of Minnith. They destroyed 20 cities, as far as [the city of] Abel Keramim. So the Israelis [completely] defeated the Ammon people-group.
And he smote them from Aroer till [one] comes to Arnon, in number twenty cities, and as far as Ebelcharmim, with a very great destruction: and the children of Ammon were straitened before the children of Israel.
34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, his daughter was the first one to come out of the house to meet him. She was [joyfully] playing a tambourine and dancing. She was his only child; he had no sons and no other daughters.
And Jephthae came to Massepha to his house; and behold, his daughter came forth to meet him with timbrels and dances; and she was his only child, he had not another son or daughter.
35 When Jephthah saw his daughter, he tore his clothes [to show that he was very sad about what he was going to do]. He said to her, “My daughter, you have caused me to become very sad [DOU] because I made a solemn promise to Yahweh [to sacrifice the first one who came out of my house], and I must do what I promised.”
And it came to pass when he saw her, that he rent his garments, and said, Ah, ah, my daughter, thou hast indeed troubled me, and thou wast the cause of my trouble; and I have opened my mouth against thee to the Lord, and I shall not be able to return from it.
36 His daughter said, “My father, you made a solemn promise to Yahweh. So you must do to me what you promised, because [you said that you would do that if] Yahweh helped you to defeat our enemies, the Ammon people-group.”
And she said to him, Father, hast thou opened thy mouth to the Lord? Do to me accordingly as [the word] went out of thy mouth, in that the Lord has wrought vengeance for thee on thine enemies of the children of Ammon.
37 Then she also said, “But allow me to do one thing. (First/before you do what you promised), allow me to go up into the hilly area and wander around for two months. Since I will never be married [and have children], allow me and my friends to go and cry together.”
And she said to her father, Let my father now do this thing: let me alone for two months, and I will go up and down on the mountains, and I will bewail my virginity, I and my companions.
38 Jephthah replied, “All right, you may go.” So she left for two months. She and her friends stayed in the hills and they cried for her because she would never be married.
And he said, Go: and he sent her away for two months; and she went, and her companions, and she bewailed her virginity on the mountains.
39 After two months, she returned to her father Jephthah, and he did to her what he had vowed. So his daughter never was married. Because of that, the Israelis now have a custom.
And it came to pass at the end of the two months that she returned to her father; and he performed upon her his vow which he vowed; and she knew no man:
40 Every year the young Israeli women go [into the hills] for four days to remember [and cry about what happened to] the daughter of Jephthah.
and it was an ordinance in Israel, [That] the daughters of Israel went from year to year to bewail the daughter of Jephthae the Galaadite for four days in a year.
