11 Jephthah^(A) the Gileadite was a mighty warrior.^(B) His father was Gilead;^(C) his mother was a prostitute.^{(D) 2} Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.” ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob,^(E) where a gang of scoundrels^(F) gathered around him and followed him.

⁴ Some time later, when the Ammonites^(G) were fighting against Israel, ⁵ the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶ “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.”

⁷ Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house?^(H) Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”

⁸ The elders of Gilead said to him, “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head^(I) over all of us who live in Gilead.”

⁹ Jephthah answered, “Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me—will I really be your head?”

¹⁰ The elders of Gilead replied, “The Lord is our witness;^(J) we will certainly do as you say.” ¹¹ So Jephthah went with the elders^(K) of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated^(L) all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.^(M)

¹² Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?”

¹³ The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon^(N) to the Jabbok,^(O) all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.”

¹⁴ Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, ¹⁵ saying:

²⁸ The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.

²⁹ Then the Spirit^(AO) of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah^(AP) of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.^{(AQ) 30} And Jephthah made a vow^(AR) to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, ³¹ whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph^(AS) from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.^(AT)”

³² Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. ³³ He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith,^(AU) as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

³⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing^(AV) to the sound of timbrels!^(AW) She was an only child.^(AX) Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes^(AY) and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.^(AZ)”

³⁶ “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised,^(BA) now that the Lord has avenged you^(BB) of your enemies,^(BC) the Ammonites. ³⁷ But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

³⁸ “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. ³⁹ After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition ⁴⁰ that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Jephthah and Ephraim

12 The Ephraimite forces were called out, and they crossed over to Zaphon.^(BD) They said to Jephthah,^(BE) “Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you?^(BF) We’re going to burn down your house over your head.”

² Jephthah answered, “I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn’t save me out of their hands. ³ When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands^(BG) and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory^(BH) over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?”

⁴ Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead^(BI) and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.^(BJ)” ⁵ The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan^(BK) leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he replied, “No,” ⁶ they said, “All right, say ‘Shibboleth.’” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.

⁷ Jephthah led^[c] Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in a town in Gilead.

Ibzan, Elon and Abdon

⁸ After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem^(BL) led Israel. ⁹ He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. ¹⁰ Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

¹¹ After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. ¹² Then Elon died and was buried in Aijalon^(BM) in the land of Zebulun.

¹³ After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon,^(BN) led Israel. ¹⁴ He had forty sons and thirty grandsons,^(BO) who rode on seventy donkeys.^(BP) He led Israel eight years. ¹⁵ Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.^(BQ)

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)

6 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels.^{(B) 2} Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”^(C)

³ Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{(D) 4} He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat.^(E) And he also gave some to his companions.” ⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man^(F) is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶ On another Sabbath^(G) he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. ⁷ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely^(H) to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.^{(I) 8} But Jesus knew what they were thinking^(J) and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

¹⁰ He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. ¹¹ But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious^(K) and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles^(L)

¹² One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.^{(M) 13} When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:^{(N) 14} Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew,^(O) Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, ¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Blessings and Woes^(P)

¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon,^{(Q) 18} who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him,^(R) because power was coming from him and healing them all.^(S)

²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said:

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,^(Z) because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.^(AA)