1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and
he was the
son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
2 And
Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out
Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for
thou art the
son of a strange woman.
3 Then
Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were
gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
4 And
it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against
Israel.
5 And
it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders
of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
6 And
they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the
children of Ammon.
7 And
Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out
of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
8 And
the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now,
that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be
our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
9 And
Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight
against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be
your head?
10 And
the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we
do not so according to thy words.
11 Then
Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and
captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in
Mizpeh.
12 And
Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What
hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
13 And
the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah,
Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon
even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again
peaceably.
14 And
Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:
15 And
said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor
the land of the children of Ammon:
16 But
when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red
sea, and came to Kadesh;
17 Then
Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass
through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of
Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in
Kadesh.
18 Then
they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the
land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the
other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the
border of Moab.
19 And
Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon;
and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my
place.
20 But
Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his
people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
21 And
the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of
Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites,
the inhabitants of that country.
22 And
they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and
from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
23 So
now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his
people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
24 Wilt
not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So
whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we
possess.
25 And
now art thou
any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive
against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
26 While
Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all
the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three
hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within
that time?
27 Wherefore
I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest 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 Howbeit
the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah
which he sent him.
29 Then
the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and
Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed
over unto the
children of Ammon.
30 And
Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail
deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
31 Then
it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me,
when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S,
and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
32 So
Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the
LORD delivered them into his hands.
33 And
he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty
cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus
the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34 And
Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to
meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only
child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
35 And
it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my
daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble
me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
36 And
she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the
LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth;
forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of
the children of Ammon.
37 And
she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two
months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity,
I and my fellows.
38 And
he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her
companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
39 And
it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father,
who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she
knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to
lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
