< Judges 11 >

1 Now, Jephthah the Gileadite, was a mighty man of valour, but, he, was the son of an unchaste woman, —yet Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
Fuit illo tempore Iephte Galaadites vir fortissimus atque pugnator, filius mulieris meretricis, qui natus est de Galaad.
2 And the wife of Gilead bare him sons, —and, when the wife’s sons grew up, they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him—Thou shalt not inherit with the house of our father, for, son of an alien woman, art thou.
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.
3 So Jephthah fled from the face of his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob, —and there gathered about Jephthah unemployed men, who went forth with him.
Quos ille fugiens atque devitans, habitavit in Terra Tob: congregatique sunt ad eum viri inopes, et latrocinantes, et quasi principem sequebantur.
4 And so it came to pass, after a time, —that the sons of Ammon made war with Israel.
In illis diebus pugnabant filii Ammon contra Israel.
5 When, therefore, it came to pass that the sons of Ammon made war with Israel, then went the elders of Gilead, to summon Jephthah out of the land of Tob.
Quibus acriter instantibus perrexerunt maiores natu de Galaad, ut tollerent in auxilium sui Iephte de Terra Tob:
6 And they said to Jephthah, Oh! come and be our commander, —that we may do battle with the sons of Ammon.
dixeruntque ad eum: Veni et esto princeps noster, et pugna contra filios Ammon.
7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Have not, ye, hated me, and thrust me out from the house of my father? Wherefore then, are ye come unto me, now, when ye are in distress?
Quibus ille respondit: Nonne vos estis, qui odistis me, et eiecistis de domo patris mei, et nunc venistis ad me necessitate compulsi?
8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah—Therefore, have we, now, returned unto thee, that, if thou go with us, and do battle with the sons of Ammon, then shalt thou become our head, for all the inhabitants of Gilead.
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.
9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead—If ye do bring me back to do battle with the sons of Ammon, and Yahweh deliver them up before me, shall, I myself, become your head?
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?
10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah—Yahweh himself, will be hearkening between us, if, according to thy word, so, we do not.
Qui responderunt ei: Dominus, qui hæc audit, ipse mediator ac testis est quod nostra promissa faciemus.
11 Then went Jephthah with the elders of Gilead, and the people set him over them, as head and commander, —and Jephthah spake all his words before Yahweh, in Mizpah.
Abiit itaque Iephte cum principibus Galaad, fecitque eum omnis populus principem sui. Locutusque est Iephte omnes sermones suos coram Domino in Maspha.
12 So then Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, —What occasion is there between us, that thou shouldst have come unto me, to fight against my land?
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?
13 And the king of the sons of Ammon said unto the messengers of Jephthah—Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan, —now, therefore, restore them in peace.
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.
14 And Jephthah yet once more sent messengers unto the king of the sons of Ammon;
Per quos rursum mandavit Iephte, et imperavit eis ut dicerent regi Ammon:
15 and said unto him, Thus, saith Jephthah, —Israel took not away the land of Moab, or the land of the sons of Ammon;
Hæc dicit Iephte: Non tulit Israel Terram Moab, nec Terram filiorum Ammon:
16 for, when they came up out of Egypt, and Israel journeyed through the desert as far as the Red Sea, and came in unto Kadesh,
sed quando de Ægypto conscenderunt, ambulavit per solitudinem usque ad Mare rubrum, et venit in Cades.
17 then did Israel send messengers unto the king of Edom, saying—Let me pass, I pray thee, through thy land, but the king of Edom hearkened not, unto the king of Moab also, sent they, but he would not consent, —so Israel abode in Kadesh.
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,
18 Then journeyed they through the desert, and went round the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and so came, from the rising of the sun, to the land of Moab, but encamped beyond Arnon, —and entered not within the boundary of Moab, for, Arnon, is the boundary of Moab.
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.
19 Then did Israel send messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, —and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land as far as my own place.
Misit itaque Israel nuncios ad Sehon regem Amorrhæorum, qui habitabat in Hesebon, et dixerunt ei: Dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam usque ad fluvium.
20 But Sihon trusted not Israel, to pass through his boundary, so Sihon gathered together all his people, and encamped in Jahaz, —and fought against Israel.
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.
21 Then did Yahweh, God of Israel, deliver up Sihon, and all his people, into the hand of Israel, and they smote them, —so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land.
Tradiditque eum Dominus in manus Israel cum omni exercitu suo, qui percussit eum, et possedit omnem Terram Amorrhæi habitatoris regionis illius,
22 Yea they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, —from Arnon, even as far as the Jabbok, and from the desert, even as far as the Jordan.
et universos fines eius de Arnon usque Iaboc, et de solitudine usque ad Iordanem.
23 Now, therefore, it was, Yahweh God of Israel, that dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, —and shalt, thou, possess it?
Dominus ergo Deus Israel subvertit Amorrhæum, pugnante contra illum populo suo Israel, et tu nunc vis possidere terram eius?
24 What Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess, that, wilt thou not possess? and, whatsoever Yahweh our God hath set before us to possess, that, shall we not possess?
Nonne ea quæ possidet Chamos Deus tuus, tibi iure debentur? Quæ autem Dominus Deus noster victor obtinuit, in nostram cedent possessionem:
25 Now, therefore, art thou, really better, than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Hath there been any, striving at all, with Israel, or any, fighting at all, with them,
nisi forte melior es Balac filio Sephor rege Moab: aut docere potes, quod iurgatus sit contra Israel, et pugnaverit contra eum,
26 all the time that Israel hath been dwelling in Heshbon and in her towns, and in Aroer and in her towns, and in all the cities that are on the banks of Arnon, —for three hundred years? Wherefore, then, have ye not made a rescue within that time?
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?
27 I, therefore, have not sinned against thee; but, thou, art doing me a wrong, in fighting against me, —Let Yahweh, the Judge, give judgment today, between the sons of Israel, and the sons of Ammon!
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.
28 But the king of the sons of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah, which he sent unto him.
Noluitque acquiescere rex filiorum Ammon verbis Iephte, quæ per nuncios mandaverat.
29 Then came upon Jephthah the spirit of Yahweh, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, —and passed through Mizpeh of Gilead, and, from Mizpeh of Gilead, he passed through [unto] the sons of Ammon.
Factus est ergo super Iephte Spiritus Domini, et circuiens Galaad, et Manasse, Maspha quoque Galaad, et inde transiens ad filios Ammon,
30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Yahweh, and said, —If thou wilt, deliver, the sons of Ammon into my hand,
votum vovit Domino, dicens: Si tradideris filios Ammon in manus meas,
31 then shall it be, that, whosoever cometh forth out of the doors of my house, to meet me, when I return successful, from the sons of Ammon, shall belong unto Yahweh, and I will offer him up, as an ascending-sacrifice.
quicumque primus fuerit egressus de foribus domus meæ, mihique occurrerit revertenti cum pace a filiis Ammon, eum holocaustum offeram Domino.
32 So then Jephthah passed over unto the sons of Ammon, to fight against them, —and Yahweh delivered them into his hand;
Transivitque Iephte ad filios Ammon, ut pugnaret contra eos: quos tradidit Dominus in manus eius.
33 and he smote them, from Aroer even till thou enterest in to Minnith, even twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with an exceeding great smiting, —and thus were the sons of Ammon subdued before the sons of Israel.
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.
34 Then came Jephthah towards Mizpah, unto his own house, and lo! his daughter, coming forth to meet him, with timbrels, and with dances, —and, she, was none other than his only child, he had not, besides her, either son or daughter.
Revertente autem Iephte in Maspha domum suam, occurrit ei unigenita filia sua cum tympanis et choris. non enim habebat alios liberos.
35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said—Alas! my daughter, Thou hast, brought me low, Even, thou, hast come to be among them who trouble me, —Yet, I, opened wide my mouth unto Yahweh, and cannot go back.
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.
36 And she said unto him—My father! Thou hast opened wide thy mouth unto Yahweh, Do with me, according to that which hath gone forth out of thy mouth, —after that Yahweh hath exacted for thee an avenging from thine enemies, from the sons of Ammon.
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 And she said unto her father, Let this thing, be done for me, —Let me alone two months, that I may depart, and go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.
Dixitque ad patrem: Hoc solum mihi præsta quod deprecor: Dimitte me ut duobus mensibus circumeam montes, et plangam virginitatem meam cum sodalibus meis.
38 And he said—Depart. So he let her go, for two months, —and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity, upon the mountains.
Cui ille respondit: Vade. Et dimisit eam duobus mensibus. Cumque abiisset cum sociis ac sodalibus suis, flebat virginitatem suam in montibus.
39 And it came to pass, at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, and he fulfilled on her his vow which he had vowed, —she not having known man. And it became a statute, in Israel: —
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:
40 From year to year, departed the daughters of Israel, to lament aloud for the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in the year.
ut post anni circulum conveniant in unum filiæ Israel, et plangant filiam Iephte Galaaditæ diebus quattuor.

< Judges 11 >