Judges 11

¹Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a great man of war; he was the son of a loose woman, and Gilead was his father.

²And 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.

³So 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.

⁴Now after a time the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

⁵And when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the responsible men of Gilead went to get Jephthah back from the land of Tob;

⁶And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief so that we may make war against the children of Ammon.

⁷But 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?

⁸And 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.

⁹Then 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?

¹⁰And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, May the Lord be our witness: we will certainly do as you say.

¹¹So 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.

¹²Then 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?

¹³And 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.

¹⁴And Jephthah sent again to the king of the children of Ammon,

¹⁵And 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;

¹⁶But when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the waste land to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh;

¹⁷Then 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.

¹⁸Then 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.

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰But 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.

²¹And 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.

²²All the limit of the Amorites was theirs, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and from the waste land even to Jordan.

²³So 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?

²⁴Do 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.

²⁵What! 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?

²⁶While 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?

²⁷So 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.

²⁸The king of the children of Ammon, however, did not give ear to the words which Jephthah sent to him.

²⁹Then 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.

³⁰And Jephthah took an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give the children of Ammon into my hands,

³¹Then 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.

³²So Jephthah went over to the children of Ammon to make war on them; and the Lord gave them into his hands.

³³And 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.

³⁴Then 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.

³⁵And 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.

³⁶And 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.

³⁷Then 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.

³⁸And 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.

³⁹And 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,

⁴⁰For the women to go year by year sorrowing for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in every year.

Judges 11

¹Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute. And Gilead became the father of Jephthah.

²Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, "You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman."

³Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him.

⁴It happened after a while, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

⁵It was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob;

⁶and they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon."

⁷Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? And why have you come to me now when you are in distress?"

⁸The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

⁹Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them before me, shall I be your head?"

¹⁰The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The Lord shall be witness between us; surely according to your word so will we do."

¹¹Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.

¹²Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, "What have you to do with me, that you are come to me to fight against my land?"

¹³The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore it peaceably."

¹⁴Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon;

¹⁵and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: 'Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon,

¹⁶but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh;

¹⁷then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let me pass through your land.' But the king of Edom did not listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.

¹⁸Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they did not come within the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.

¹⁹Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, "Please let us pass through your land to our land.'

²⁰But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

²¹The Lord, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

²²They possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan.

²³So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them?

²⁴Won't you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever the Lord our God has driven out from before us, we will possess.

²⁵And now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever fight against them?

²⁶While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; why did you not recover them within that time?

²⁷I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong by making war against me. The Lord, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon."

²⁸However the king of the children of Ammon did not listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

²⁹Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.

³⁰Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, "If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand,

³¹then it shall be that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."

³²So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hand.

³³He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

³⁴Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

³⁵It happened, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the Lord, and I can't break it."

³⁶She said to him, "My father, since you have given your word to the Lord; do to me as you promised, because the Lord has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon."

³⁷She said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and weep because of my virginity, I and my companions."

³⁸He said, "Go." He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and wept because of her virginity on the mountains.

³⁹It happened at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, who did with her according to what he had vowed. And she was a virgin. It became a custom in Israel,

⁴⁰that the daughters of Israel went yearly four days in a year to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.