Judges 11
1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was his father.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a great man of war; he was the son of a loose woman, and Gilead was his father.
2 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.”
And Gilead's wife gave birth to sons, and when her sons became men, they sent Jephthah away, saying, You have no part in the heritage of our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.
3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah and they came and went with him.
So Jephthah went in flight from his brothers and was living in the land of Tob, where a number of good-for-nothing men, joining Jephthah, went out with him on his undertakings.
4 Some days later, the people of Ammon made war against Israel.
Now after a time the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 When the people of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back from the land of Tob.
And when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the responsible men of Gilead went to get Jephthah back from the land of Tob;
6 They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader that we may fight with the people of Ammon.”
And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief so that we may make war against the children of Ammon.
7 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?”
But Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, Did you not, in your hate for me, send me away from my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?
8 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.”
And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is the reason we have come back to you; so go with us and make war against the children of Ammon, and we will make you our head over all the people of Gilead.
9 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.”
Then Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, If you take me back to make war against the children of Ammon, and if with the help of the Lord I overcome them, will you make me your head?
10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “May Yahweh be witness between us if we do not do as we say!”
And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, May the Lord be our witness: we will certainly do as you say.
11 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.
So Jephthah went with the responsible men of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah said all these things before the Lord in Mizpah.
12 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?”
Then Jephthah sent men to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you against me that you have come to make war against my land?
13 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.”
And the king of the children of Ammon said to the men sent by Jephthah, Because Israel, when he came up out of Egypt, took away my land, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and as far as Jordan: so now, give me back those lands quietly.
14 Again Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon,
And Jephthah sent again to the king of the children of Ammon,
15 and he said, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab and the land of the people of Ammon,
And said to him, This is the word of Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon;
16 but they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds and on to Kadesh.
But when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the waste land to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh;
17 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.
Then Israel sent men to the king of Edom saying, Let me now go through your land; but the king of Edom did not give ear to them. And in the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not; so Israel went on living in Kadesh.
18 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.
Then he went on through the waste land and round the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon; they did not come inside the limit of Moab, for the Arnon was the limit of Moab.
19 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.'
And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let me now go through your land to my place.
20 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.
But Sihon would not give way and let Israel go through his land; and Sihon got together all his people, and put his army in position in Jahaz, and made war on Israel.
21 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.
And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, and they overcame them; so all the land of the Amorites, the people of that land, became Israel's.
22 They took over everything within the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
All the limit of the Amorites was theirs, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and from the waste land even to Jordan.
23 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?
So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has taken away their land from the Amorites and given it to his people Israel; are you then to have it?
24 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.
Do you not keep the lands of those whom Chemosh your god sends out from before you? So we will keep all the lands of those whom the Lord our God sends out from before us.
25 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?
What! are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever take up a cause against Israel or make war against them?
26 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?
While Israel was living in Heshbon and its daughter-towns and in Aroer and its daughter-towns and in all the towns which are by the side of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not get them back at that time?
27 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.”
So I have done no wrong against you, but you are doing wrong to me in fighting against me: may the Lord, who is Judge this day, be judge between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
28 But the king of the people of Ammon rejected the warning Jephthah sent him.
The king of the children of Ammon, however, did not give ear to the words which Jephthah sent to him.
29 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.
Then the spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, and he went through Gilead and Manasseh, and came to Mizpeh of Gilead; and from Mizpeh of Gilead he went over to the children of Ammon.
30 Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh and said, “If you give me victory over the people of Ammon,
And Jephthah took an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give the children of Ammon into my hands,
31 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.”
Then whoever comes out from the door of my house, meeting me when I come back in peace from the children of Ammon, will be the Lord's and I will give him as a burned offering.
32 So Jephthah passed through to the people of Ammon to fight against them, and Yahweh gave him victory.
So Jephthah went over to the children of Ammon to make war on them; and the Lord gave them into his hands.
33 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.
And he made an attack on them from Aroer all the way to Minnith, overrunning twenty towns, as far as Abel-cheramim, and put great numbers to the sword. So the children of Ammon were crushed before the children of Israel.
34 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.
Then Jephthah came back to his house in Mizpah, and his daughter came out, meeting him on his way with music and with dances; she was his only child; he had no other sons or daughters.
35 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.”
And when he saw her he was overcome with grief, and said, Ah! my daughter! I am crushed with sorrow, and it is you who are the chief cause of my trouble; for I have made an oath to the Lord and I may not take it back.
36 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.”
And she said to him, My father, you have made an oath to the Lord; do then to me whatever you have said; for the Lord has sent a full reward on your haters, on the children of Ammon.
37 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.”
Then she said to her father, Only do this for me: let me have two months to go away into the mountains with my friends, weeping for my sad fate.
38 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.
And he said, Go then. So he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends to the mountains, weeping for her sad fate.
39 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
And at the end of two months she went back to her father, who did with her as he had said in his oath: and she had never been touched by a man. So it became a rule in Israel,
40 that the daughters of Israel every year, for four days, would retell the story of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
For the women to go year by year sorrowing for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in every year.
