Iudicum 11
1 Fuit illo tempore Iephte Galaadites vir fortissimus atque pugnator, filius mulieris meretricis, qui natus est de Galaad.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
2 Habuit autem Galaad uxorem, de qua suscepit filios: qui postquam creverant, eiecerunt Iephte, dicentes: Heres in domo patris nostri esse non poteris, quia de altera matre natus es.
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 Quos ille fugiens atque devitans, habitavit in Terra Tob: congregatique sunt ad eum viri inopes, et latrocinantes, et quasi principem sequebantur.
So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.
4 In illis diebus pugnabant filii Ammon contra Israel.
Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel
5 Quibus acriter instantibus perrexerunt maiores natu de Galaad, ut tollerent in auxilium sui Iephte de Terra Tob:
and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6 dixeruntque ad eum: Veni et esto princeps noster, et pugna contra filios Ammon.
“Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”
7 Quibus ille respondit: Nonne vos estis, qui odistis me, et eiecistis de domo patris mei, et nunc venistis ad me necessitate compulsi?
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 Dixeruntque principes Galaad ad Iephte: Ob hanc igitur causam nunc ad te venimus, ut proficiscaris nobiscum, et pugnes contra filios Ammon, sisque dux omnium qui habitant in Galaad.
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 Iephte 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?
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 Qui responderunt ei: Dominus, qui hæc audit, ipse mediator ac testis est quod nostra promissa faciemus.
And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.”
11 Abiit itaque Iephte cum principibus Galaad, fecitque eum omnis populus principem sui. Locutusque est Iephte omnes sermones suos coram Domino in Maspha.
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 Et misit nuncios ad regem filiorum Ammon, qui ex persona sua dicerent: Quid mihi et tibi est, quia venisti contra me, ut vastares terram meam?
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 Quibus ille respondit: Quia tulit Israel terram meam, quando ascendit de Ægypto a finibus Arnon usque Iaboc atque Iordanem: nunc ergo cum pace redde mihi eam.
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 Per quos rursum mandavit Iephte, et imperavit eis ut dicerent regi Ammon:
Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites
15 Hæc dicit Iephte: Non tulit Israel Terram Moab, nec Terram filiorum Ammon:
to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites.
16 sed quando de Ægypto conscenderunt, ambulavit per solitudinem usque ad Mare rubrum, et venit in Cades.
But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17 Misitque nuncios ad regem Edom, dicens: Dimitte me ut transeam per terram tuam. Qui noluit acquiescere precibus eius. Misit quoque ad regem Moab, qui et ipse transitum præbere contempsit. Mansit itaque in Cades,
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 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.
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 Misit itaque Israel nuncios ad Sehon regem Amorrhæorum, qui habitabat in Hesebon, et dixerunt ei: Dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam usque ad fluvium.
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 Qui et ipse Israel verba despiciens, non dimisit eum transire per terminos suos: sed infinita multitudine congregata egressus est contra eum in Iasa, et fortiter resistebat.
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 Tradiditque eum Dominus in manus Israel cum omni exercitu suo, qui percussit eum, et possedit omnem Terram Amorrhæi habitatoris regionis illius,
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 et universos fines eius de Arnon usque Iaboc, et de solitudine usque ad Iordanem.
seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23 Dominus ergo Deus Israel subvertit Amorrhæum, pugnante contra illum populo suo Israel, et tu nunc vis possidere terram eius?
Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it?
24 Nonne ea quæ possidet Chamos Deus tuus, tibi iure debentur? Quæ autem Dominus Deus noster victor obtinuit, in nostram cedent possessionem:
Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.
25 nisi forte melior es Balac filio Sephor rege Moab: aut docere potes, quod iurgatus sit contra Israel, et pugnaverit contra eum,
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 quando habitavit in Hesebon, et viculis eius, et in Aroer, et villis illius, vel in cunctis civitatibus iuxta Iordanem, per trecentos annos. Quare tanto tempore nihil super hac repetitione tentastis?
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 Igitur non ego pecco in te, sed tu contra me male agis, indicens mihi bella non iusta. Iudicet Dominus arbiter huius diei inter Israel, et inter filios 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 Noluitque acquiescere rex filiorum Ammon verbis Iephte, quæ per nuncios mandaverat.
But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.
29 Factus est ergo super Iephte Spiritus Domini, et circuiens Galaad, et Manasse, Maspha quoque Galaad, et inde transiens ad filios 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 votum vovit Domino, dicens: Si tradideris filios Ammon in manus meas,
Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,
31 quicumque primus fuerit egressus de foribus domus meæ, mihique occurrerit revertenti cum pace a filiis Ammon, eum holocaustum offeram Domino.
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 Transivitque Iephte ad filios Ammon, ut pugnaret contra eos: quos tradidit Dominus in manus eius.
So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
33 Percussitque ab Aroer usque dum venias in Mennith, viginti civitates, et usque ad Abel, quæ est vineis consita, plaga magna nimis. humiliatique sunt filii Ammon a filiis 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 Revertente autem Iephte in Maspha domum suam, occurrit ei unigenita filia sua cum tympanis et choris. non enim habebat alios liberos.
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 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.
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 Cui illa respondit: Pater mi, si aperuisti os tuum ad Dominum, fac mihi quodcumque pollicitus es, concessa tibi ultione atque victoria de hostibus tuis.
“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 Dixitque ad patrem: Hoc solum mihi præsta quod deprecor: Dimitte me ut duobus mensibus circumeam montes, et plangam virginitatem meam cum sodalibus meis.
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 Cui ille respondit: Vade. Et dimisit eam duobus mensibus. Cumque abiisset cum sociis ac sodalibus suis, flebat virginitatem suam in montibus.
“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 Expletisque duobus mensibus, reversa est ad patrem suum, et fecit ei sicut voverat, quæ ignorabat virum. Exinde mos increbruit in Israel, et consuetudo servata est:
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 ut post anni circulum conveniant in unum filiæ Israel, et plangant filiam Iephte Galaaditæ diebus quattuor.
that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
