Judges 11
1 Jephthah of Gilead was a strong fighter. He was the son of a prostitute, and his father was Gilead.
fuit illo tempore Iepthae Galaadites vir fortissimus atque pugnator filius meretricis mulieris qui natus est de Galaad
2 Gilead's wife gave him sons, who when they grew up, drove Jephthah away, telling him, “You won't inherit anything from our father because you are another woman's son.”
habuit autem Galaad uxorem de qua suscepit filios qui postquam creverant eiecerunt Iepthae dicentes heres in domo patris nostri esse non poteris quia de altera matre generatus es
3 Jephthah ran away from his brothers and went to live in the land of Tob. A gang of trouble-makers joined him and he led them out on raids.
quos ille fugiens atque devitans habitavit in terra Tob congregatique sunt ad eum viri inopes et latrocinantes et quasi principem sequebantur
4 Later on, the Ammonites were at war with Israel.
in illis diebus pugnabant filii Ammon contra Israhel
5 As the Ammonites were attacking Israel, the elders of Gilead came to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
quibus acriter instantibus perrexerunt maiores natu de Galaad ut tollerent in auxilium sui Iepthae de terra Tob
6 “Come and be our army commander,” they asked Jepthah, “so we can fight the Ammonites.”
dixeruntque ad eum veni et esto princeps noster et pugna contra filios Ammon
7 “Weren't you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father's house?” Jephthah asked them, “Why are you coming to me now you're in trouble?”
quibus ille respondit nonne vos estis qui odistis me et eiecistis de domo patris mei et nunc venistis ad me necessitate conpulsi
8 “Yes, that's why we've turned to you now,” the elders of Gilead replied. “Come with us and fight the Ammonites, and you will be the leader of all the people of Gilead.”
dixeruntque principes Galaad ad Iepthae ob hanc igitur causam nunc ad te venimus ut proficiscaris nobiscum et pugnes contra filios Ammon sisque dux omnium qui habitant in Galaad
9 “So if I go back with you and fight the Ammonites, and the Lord makes me victorious, then I'll be your leader?” Jephthah asked the elders of Gilead.
Iepthae quoque dixit eis si vere venistis ad me ut pugnem pro vobis contra filios Ammon tradideritque eos Dominus in manus meas ego ero princeps vester
10 “The Lord will be a witness between us,” they replied. “We'll do whatever you say.”
qui responderunt ei Dominus qui haec audit ipse mediator ac testis est quod nostra promissa faciamus
11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and army commander. And Jephthah repeated all his conditions before the Lord at Mizpah.
abiit itaque Iepthae cum principibus Galaad fecitque eum omnis populus principem sui locutusque est Iepthae omnes sermones suos coram Domino in Maspha
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to ask him, “What have you got against me that you want to attack my land?”
et misit nuntios ad regem filiorum Ammon qui ex persona sua dicerent quid mihi et tibi est quia venisti contra me ut vastares terram meam
13 The king of the Ammonites replied to Jephthah's messengers, “Israel seized my land when they came from Egypt. It extended from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and across to the Jordan River. So give it back and there'll be no fighting.”
quibus ille respondit quia tulit Israhel terram meam quando ascendit de Aegypto a finibus Arnon usque Iaboc atque Iordanem nunc igitur cum pace redde mihi eam
14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of the Ammonites
per quos rursum mandavit Iepthae et imperavit eis ut dicerent regi Ammon
15 to tell him, “This is Jephthah's reply: The Israelites did not take any land from Moab or from the Ammonites.
haec dicit Iepthae non tulit Israhel terram Moab nec terram filiorum Ammon
16 When they left Egypt, the Israelites went through the desert to the Red Sea and arrived at Kadesh.
sed quando de Aegypto conscenderunt ambulavit per solitudinem usque ad mare Rubrum et venit in Cades
17 They sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your country,’ but the king of Edom refused to listen. They also sent the same request to the king of Moab, and he refused too. So they remained at Kadesh.
misitque nuntios ad regem Edom dicens dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam qui noluit adquiescere precibus eius misit quoque et ad regem Moab qui et ipse transitum praebere contempsit mansit itaque in Cades
18 Eventually the Israelites traveled through the desert, avoiding the lands of Edom and Moab. They arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they did not enter Moab territory, for the Arnon River was its border.
et circuivit ex latere terram Edom et terram Moab venitque contra orientalem plagam terrae Moab et castrametatus est trans Arnon nec voluit intrare terminos Moab Arnon quippe confinium est terrae Moab
19 Then the Israelites sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, and asked him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our own country.’
misit itaque Israhel nuntios ad Seon regem Amorreorum qui habitabat in Esebon et dixerunt ei dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam usque ad fluvium
20 But Sihon didn't trust the Israelites to pass through his territory. So he assembled his army, set up camp at Jahaz, and attacked the Israelites.
qui et ipse Israhel verba despiciens non dimisit eum transire per terminos suos sed infinita multitudine congregata egressus est contra eum in Iassa et fortiter resistebat
21 However, the Lord, the God of Israel, handed over Sihon and all his people to the Israelites, who defeated them. So the Israelites took over all the land inhabited by the Amorites.
tradiditque eum Dominus in manu Israhel cum omni exercitu suo qui percussit eum et possedit omnem terram Amorrei habitatoris regionis illius
22 They occupied all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the desert to the Jordan River.
et universos fines eius de Arnon usque Iaboc et de solitudine usque ad Iordanem
23 It was the Lord, the God of Israel, who drove out the Amorites before his people Israel, so why should you take it over?
Dominus ergo Deus Israhel subvertit Amorreum pugnante contra illum populo suo Israhel et tu nunc vis possidere terram eius
24 Why don't you keep whatever your god Chemosh gave you, and we'll keep whatever the Lord our God has given us?
nonne ea quae possedit Chamos deus tuus tibi iure debentur quae autem Dominus Deus noster victor obtinuit in nostram cedent possessionem
25 Do you think you're so much better than Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or attack them?
nisi forte melior es Balac filio Sepphor rege Moab aut docere potes quod iurgatus sit contra Israhel et pugnaverit contra eum
26 Israelites have been living in Heshbon, Aroer, their villages, and in all the towns along the banks of the Arnon River for three hundred years. Why didn't you take them back during that time?
quando habitavit in Esebon 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 temptastis
27 I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by going to war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
igitur non ego pecco in te sed tu contra me male agis indicens mihi bella non iusta iudicet Dominus arbiter huius diei inter Israhel et inter filios Ammon
28 But the king of Ammon didn't pay any attention to what Jephthah had to say.
noluitque adquiescere rex filiorum Ammon verbis Iepthae quae per nuntios mandaverat
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then on through Mizpah of Gilead. From there he advanced to attack the Ammonites.
factus est ergo super Iepthae spiritus Domini et circumiens Galaad et Manasse Maspha quoque Galaad et inde transiens ad filios Ammon
30 Jephthah made a solemn promise to the Lord, saying, “If you make me victorious over the Ammonites,
votum vovit Domino dicens si tradideris filios Ammon in manus meas
31 I will dedicate to the Lord whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me on my safe return from the battle. I will present it as a burnt offering.”
quicumque primus fuerit egressus de foribus domus meae mihique occurrerit revertenti cum pace a filiis Ammon eum holocaustum offeram Domino
32 Jephthah advanced to attack the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him the victory over them.
transivitque Iepthae ad filios Ammon ut pugnaret contra eos quos tradidit Dominus in manus eius
33 He soundly defeated them, capturing twenty cities from Aroer to the area around Minnith, up as far as Abel-keramim. This is how the Ammonites were conquered by the Israelites.
percussitque ab Aroer usque dum venias in Mennith viginti civitates et usque ad Abel quae est vineis consita plaga magna nimis humiliatique sunt filii Ammon a filiis Israhel
34 When Jephthah arrived home in Mizpah, there came his daughter out to meet him, with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child—he had no son or daughter apart from her.
revertenti autem Iepthae in Maspha domum suam occurrit unigenita filia cum tympanis et choris non enim habebat alios liberos
35 The moment he saw her, he ripped his clothes in agony and cried out, “Oh no, my daughter! You have crushed me completely! You have destroyed me, for I made a solemn promise to the Lord and I can't go back on it.”
qua visa scidit vestimenta sua et ait heu filia mi decepisti me et ipsa decepta es aperui enim os meum ad Dominum et aliud facere non potero
36 She replied, “Father, you have made a solemn promise to the Lord. Do to me what you promised, for the Lord brought vengeance your enemies, the Ammonites.”
cui illa respondit pater mi si aperuisti os tuum ad Dominum fac mihi quodcumque pollicitus es concessa tibi ultione atque victoria de hostibus tuis
37 Then she went on to say to him, “Just let me do this: let me walk through the hills for two months with my friends and grieve the fact that I'll never marry.”
dixitque ad patrem hoc solum mihi praesta quod deprecor dimitte me ut duobus mensibus circumeam montes et plangam virginitatem meam cum sodalibus meis
38 “You can go,” he told her. He sent her away for two months, and she and her friends went into the hills and cried because she would never marry.
cui ille respondit vade et dimisit eam duobus mensibus cumque abisset cum sociis ac sodalibus suis flebat virginitatem suam in montibus
39 When the two months were over, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had promised, and she was a virgin. This is the origin of the custom in Israel
expletisque duobus mensibus reversa est ad patrem suum et fecit ei sicut voverat quae ignorabat virum exinde mos increbuit in Israhel et consuetudo servata est
40 that every year the young women of Israel leave for four days to weep in commemoration of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
ut post anni circulum conveniant in unum filiae Israhel et plangant filiam Iepthae Galaaditae diebus quattuor
