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 warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. 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.
Gilead's wife also gave birth to his other sons. When his wife's sons grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave the house and said to him, “You are not going to inherit anything from our family. 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 lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah and they came and went with him.
4 In illis diebus pugnabant filii Ammon contra Israel.
Some days later, the people of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 Quibus acriter instantibus perrexerunt maiores natu de Galaad, ut tollerent in auxilium sui Iephte de Terra Tob:
When the people of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back from the land of Tob.
6 dixeruntque ad eum: Veni et esto princeps noster, et pugna contra filios Ammon.
They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader that we may fight with the people of Ammon.”
7 Quibus ille respondit: Nonne vos estis, qui odistis me, et eiecistis de domo patris mei, et nunc venistis ad me necessitate compulsi?
Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “You hated me and forced me to leave my father's house. Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?”
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.
The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we are turning to you now; come with us and fight with the people of Ammon, and you will become the leader over all 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?
Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the people of Ammon, and if Yahweh gives us victory over them, I will be your leader.”
10 Qui responderunt ei: Dominus, qui hæc audit, ipse mediator ac testis est quod nostra promissa faciemus.
The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “May Yahweh be witness between us if we do not do as we 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 leader and commander over them. When he was before Yahweh in Mizpah, Jephthah repeated all the promises he made.
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 people of Ammon, saying, “What is this conflict between us? Why have you come with force to take our 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 people of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because when Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, over to the Jordan. Now give back those lands in peace.”
14 Per quos rursum mandavit Iephte, et imperavit eis ut dicerent regi Ammon:
Again Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon,
15 Hæc dicit Iephte: Non tulit Israel Terram Moab, nec Terram filiorum Ammon:
and he said, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab and the land of the people of Ammon,
16 sed quando de Ægypto conscenderunt, ambulavit per solitudinem usque ad Mare rubrum, et venit in Cades.
but they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds and on 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,
When Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let us pass through your land,' the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he refused. So Israel stayed at 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 they went through the wilderness and turned away from the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and they went along the east side of the land of Moab and they camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not go into the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was Moab's 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.
Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon; Israel said to him, 'Please, let us pass through your land to the place that is ours.'
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 did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his army together and moved it to Jahaz, and there he fought against Israel.
21 Tradiditque eum Dominus in manus Israel cum omni exercitu suo, qui percussit eum, et possedit omnem Terram Amorrhæi habitatoris regionis illius,
Then Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel and they defeated them. So Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country.
22 et universos fines eius de Arnon usque Iaboc, et de solitudine usque ad Iordanem.
They took over everything within the territory of the Amorites, 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?
So then Yahweh, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, and should you now take possession of their land?
24 Nonne ea quæ possidet Chamos Deus tuus, tibi iure debentur? Quæ autem Dominus Deus noster victor obtinuit, in nostram cedent possessionem:
Will you not take over the land that Chemosh, your god, gives you? So whatever land Yahweh our God has given us, we will take over.
25 nisi forte melior es Balac filio Sephor rege Moab: aut docere potes, quod iurgatus sit contra Israel, et pugnaverit contra eum,
Now are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to have an argument with Israel? Did he ever wage war 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?
While Israel lived for three hundred years in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are along the banks of the Arnon—why then 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 done you wrong, but you are doing me wrong by attacking me. Yahweh, the judge, will decide today between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”
28 Noluitque acquiescere rex filiorum Ammon verbis Iephte, quæ per nuncios mandaverat.
But the king of the people of Ammon rejected the warning 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 Yahweh came on Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through to the people of Ammon.
30 votum vovit Domino, dicens: Si tradideris filios Ammon in manus meas,
Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh and said, “If you give me victory over the people of Ammon,
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 of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the people of Ammon will belong to Yahweh, 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 passed through to the people of Ammon to fight against them, and Yahweh gave him victory.
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.
He attacked them and caused a great slaughter from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim. So the people of Ammon were put under the control of the people of Israel.
34 Revertente autem Iephte in Maspha domum suam, occurrit ei unigenita filia sua cum tympanis et choris. non enim habebat alios liberos.
Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah, and there his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. She was his only child, and besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
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 he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Oh! My daughter! You have crushed me with sorrow, and you have become one who causes me pain! For I have made an oath to Yahweh, and I cannot turn back on my promise.”
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.
She said to him, “My father, you have made a vow to Yahweh, do to me everything you promised, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you against 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 said to her father, “Let this promise be kept for me. Leave me alone for two months, that I may leave and go down to the hills and grieve over my virginity, I and my companions.”
38 Cui ille respondit: Vade. Et dimisit eam duobus mensibus. Cumque abiisset cum sociis ac sodalibus suis, flebat virginitatem suam in montibus.
He said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months. She left him, she and her companions, and they grieved her virginity in the hills.
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:
At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did with her according to the promise of the vow he had made. Now she had never slept with a man, and it became a custom in Israel
40 ut post anni circulum conveniant in unum filiæ Israel, et plangant filiam Iephte Galaaditæ diebus quattuor.
that the daughters of Israel every year, for four days, would retell the story of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
