Judges 11
Revised Geneva Translation
11 Then Gilead begat Jephthah. And Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant man, but the son of a harlot.
2 And Gilead’s wife bore him sons. And when the woman’s children had come of age, they thrust out Jephthah and said to him, “You shall not inherit in our father’s House; for you are the son of another woman.
3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren and dwelt in the land of Tob. And Jephthah’s worthless friends gathered there and went out with him.
4 And in the process of time, the children of Ammon made war with Israel.
5 And when the children of Ammon fought with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob.
6 And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our captain, so that we may fight with the children of Ammon.”
7 Jephthah then answered the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s House? How then can you come to me now in the time of your tribulation?”
8 Then the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we turn again to you now, so that you may go with us and fight against the children of Ammon and be our Head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
9 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back home to fight against the children of Ammon, if the LORD gives them before me, shall I be your head?”
10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD be Witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.”
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead; and the people made him head and captain over them. And Jephthah repeated all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, “What have you to do with me, that you have come against me, to fight in my land?”
13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took my land when they came up from Egypt, from Arnon to Jabbok and to Jordan. Now, therefore, restore those lands quietly.”
14 Yet, Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of the children of Ammon,
15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon.
16 ‘But after Israel came up from Egypt and walked through the wilderness to the Red Sea, they then came to Kadesh.
17 ‘And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me go through your land.” But the king of Edom would not consent. And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not. Therefore, Israel stayed in Kadesh.
18 ‘Then they went through the wilderness and surrounded the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the eastern side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of Arnon and did not come within the territory of Moab (for Arnon was the border of Moab).
19 ‘Israel also sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon. And Israel said to him, “Please let us pass by your land to our place.”
20 ‘But Sihon did not consent to Israel going through his territory. And Sihon gathered all his people together and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel.
21 ‘And the LORD God of Israel gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel and they struck them. So, Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
22 ‘And they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from Arnon to Jabbok, and from the wilderness to Jordan.
23 ‘Therefore, now the LORD God of Israel has cast out the Amorites before his people, Israel. And should you possess it?
24 ‘Would not you possess that which Chemosh, your god, gives you to possess? So, whomever the LORD our God drives out before us, we will possess.
25 ‘And are you now far better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he not strive with Israel and fight against them
26 ‘when Israel dwelt in Heshbon and in her towns and in Aroer and in her towns and in all the cities that are by the borders of Arnon, for three hundred years? Why, then, did you not recover them in that space?
27 ‘Therefore I have not offended you. But you do me wrong to war against me. The LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.’”
28 However, the king of the children of Ammon did not listen to the words of Jephthah which he had sent.
29 Then, the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah; and he passed over to Gilead and to Manasseh and came to Mizpah in Gilead. And he went to the children of Ammon from Mizpah in Gilead.
30 And Jephthah vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, “If You shall deliver the children of Ammon into my hands,
31 “then that thing that comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I come home in peace from the children of Ammon, shall be the LORD’s. And I will offer it for a Burnt Offering.”
32 And so, Jephthah went to the children of Ammon to fight against them. And the LORD delivered them into his hands.
33 And he struck them from Aroer until one comes to Minnith—twenty cities, to Abel of the vineyards—with an exceedingly great slaughter. Thus, the children of Ammon were humbled before the children of Israel.
34 Now, when Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and dances. She was his only child. He had no other son or daughter.
35 And when he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me low and are from those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD and cannot go back!”
36 And she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do with me as you have promised, seeing that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the children of Ammon.”
37 Also, she said to her father, “Do this much for me: allow me two months, so that I may go to the mountains and bewail my virginity, me and my friends.”
38 And he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months. So, she went with her companions and lamented her virginity upon the mountains.
39 And after two months, she turned back to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. And she had known no man. And it was a custom in Israel.
40 And the daughters of Israel went for four days every year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
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