Judges 11
1 And Jephthah the Gileadite hath been a mighty man of valour, and he [is] son of a woman, a harlot; and Gilead begetteth Jephthah,
[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.
2 and the wife of Gilead beareth to him sons, and the wife's sons grow up and cast out Jephthah, and say to him, 'Thou dost not inherit in the house of our father; for son of another woman [art] thou.'
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.”
3 And Jephthah fleeth from the face of his brethren, and dwelleth in the land of Tob; and vain men gather themselves together unto Jephthah, and they go out with him.
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.
4 And it cometh to pass, after a time, that the Bene-Ammon fight with Israel,
Some time later, the Ammon people-group started to fight against the Israelis.
5 and it cometh to pass, when the Bene-Ammon have fought with Israel, that the elders of Gilead go to take Jephthah from the land of Tob;
When that happened [DOU], the leaders of [the] Gilead [region] went to Jephthah to bring him back from the Tob region [to their area].
6 and they say unto Jephthah, 'Come, and thou hast been to us for captain, and we fight against the Bene-Ammon.'
They said to him, “Come [with us] and lead our army, and [help us to] fight against the men from the Ammon people-group!”
7 And Jephthah saith to the elders of Gilead, 'Have not ye hated me? and ye cast me out from the house of my father, and wherefore have ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?'
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?”
8 and the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, 'Therefore, now, we have turned back unto thee; and thou hast gone with us, and fought against the Bene-Ammon, and thou hast been to us for head — to all the inhabitants of Gilead.'
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].”
9 And Jephthah saith unto the elders of Gilead, 'If ye are taking me back to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah hath given them before me — I, am I to you for a head?'
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?”
10 And the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, 'Jehovah is hearkening between us — if according to thy word we do not so.'
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.”
11 And Jephthah goeth with the elders of Gilead, and the people set him over them for head and for captain, and Jephthah speaketh all his words before Jehovah in Mizpeh.
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].
12 And Jephthah sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon, saying, 'What — to me and to thee, that thou hast come in unto me, to fight in my land.'
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?”
13 And the king of the Bene-Ammon saith unto the messengers of Jephthah, 'Because Israel took my land in his coming up out of Egypt, from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan; and now, restore them in peace.'
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).”
14 And Jephthah addeth yet and sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon,
[The messengers returned to Jephthah and told him what the king had said]. So Jephthah sent the messengers to the king again.
15 and saith to him, 'Thus said Jephthah, Israel took not the land of Moab, and the land of the Bene-Ammon,
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.
16 for in their coming up out of Egypt, Israel goeth in the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and cometh in to Kadesh,
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].
17 and Israel sendeth messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me pass over, I pray thee, through thy land, and the king of Edom hearkened not; and also unto the king of Moab hath [Israel] sent, and he hath not been willing; and Israel abideth in Kadesh,
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].
18 and he goeth through the wilderness, and compasseth the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and cometh in at the rising of the sun of the land of Moab, and they encamp beyond Arnon, and have not come into the border of Moab, for Arnon [is] the border of Moab.
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].
19 'And Israel sendeth messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and Israel saith to him, Let us pass over, we pray thee, through thy land, unto my place,
‘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].”
20 and Sihon hath not trusted Israel to pass over through his border, and Sihon gathereth all his people, and they encamp in Jahaz, and fight with Israel;
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.
21 and Jehovah, God of Israel, giveth Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smite them, and Israel possesseth all the land of the Amorite, the inhabitant of that land,
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.
22 and they possess all the border of the Amorite from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and from the wilderness, and unto the Jordan.
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].
23 'And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorite from the presence of His people Israel, and thou wouldest possess it!
‘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]?
24 That which Chemosh thy god causeth thee to possess — dost thou not possess it? and all that which Jehovah our God hath dispossessed from our presence, — it we do possess.
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!
25 'And now, [art] thou at all better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he at all strive with Israel? did he at all fight against them?
(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]!
26 In Israel's dwelling in Heshbon and in its towns, and in Aroer and in its towns, and in all the cities which [are] by the sides of Arnon three hundred years — and wherefore have ye not delivered them in that time?
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]?
27 And I — I have not sinned against thee, and thou art doing with me evil — to fight against me. Jehovah, the Judge, doth judge to-day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.'
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.’”
28 And the king of the Bene-Ammon hath not hearkened unto the words of Jephthah which he sent unto him,
But the king of the Ammon people-group did not pay attention to that message from Jephthah.
29 and the Spirit of Jehovah is on Jephthah, and he passeth over Gilead and Manasseh, and passeth over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he hath passed over to the Bene-Ammon.
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.
30 And Jephthah voweth a vow to Jehovah, and saith, 'If Thou dost at all give the Bene-Ammon into my hand —
There Jephthah made a solemn promise to Yahweh. He said, “If you will enable my army to defeat [IDM] the Ammon people-group,
31 then it hath been, that which at all cometh out from the doors of my house to meet me in my turning back in peace from the Bene-Ammon — it hath been to Jehovah, or I have offered up for it — a burnt-offering.'
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].”
32 And Jephthah passeth over unto the Bene-Ammon to fight against them, and Jehovah giveth them into his hand,
Then Jephthah [and his men] went from Mizpah to attack the Ammon people-group, and Yahweh enabled his army to defeat them.
33 and he smiteth them from Aroer, and unto thy going in to Minnith, twenty cities, and unto the meadow of the vineyards — a very great smiting; and the Bene-Ammon are humbled at the presence of the sons of Israel.
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.
34 And Jephthah cometh into Mizpeh, unto his house, and lo, his daughter is coming out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses, and save her alone, he hath none, son or daughter.
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.
35 And it cometh to pass, when he seeth her, that he rendeth his garments, and saith, 'Alas, my daughter, thou hast caused me greatly to bend, and thou hast been among those troubling me; and I — I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah, and I am not able to turn back.'
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.”
36 And she saith unto him, 'My father — thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah, do to me as it hath gone out from thy mouth, after that Jehovah hath done for thee vengeance on thine enemies, on the Bene-Ammon.'
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.”
37 And she saith unto her father, 'Let this thing be done to me; desist from me two months, and I go on, and have gone down on the hills, and I weep for my virginity — I and my friends.'
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.”
38 And he saith, 'Go;' and he sendeth her away two months, and she goeth, she and her friends, and she weepeth for her virginity on the hills;
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.
39 and it cometh to pass at the end of two months that she turneth back unto her father, and he doth to her his vow which he hath vowed, and she knew not a man; and it is a statute in Israel:
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.
40 from time to time the daughters of Israel go to talk to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.
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.
