The Daily Audio Bible

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)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word,^(A) and the Word was with God,^(B) and the Word was God.^{(C) 2} He was with God in the beginning.^{(D) 3} Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.^{(E) 4} In him was life,^(F) and that life was the light^(G) of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness,^(H) and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.^(I)

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John.^{(J) 7} He came as a witness to testify^(K) concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.^{(L) 8} He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light^(M) that gives light to everyone^(N) was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,^(O) the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.^{(P) 12} Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed^(Q) in his name,^(R) he gave the right to become children of God^(S)— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.^(T)

¹⁴ The Word became flesh^(U) and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,^(V) the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace^(W) and truth.^(X)

¹⁵ (John testified^(Y) concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)^{(Z) 16} Out of his fullness^(AA) we have all received grace^(AB) in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses;^(AC) grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.^{(AD) 18} No one has ever seen God,^(AE) but the one and only Son, who is himself God and^[b](AF) is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

¹⁹ Now this was John’s^(AG) testimony when the Jewish leaders^[c](AH) in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰ He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”^(AI)

²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”^(AJ)

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”^(AK)

He answered, “No.”

²² Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,^(AL) ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”^[d](AM)

²⁴ Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ “I baptize with^[e] water,”^(AN) John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me,^(AO) the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”^(AP)

²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan,^(AQ) where John was baptizing.

Psalm 101

Of David. A psalm.