CHAPTER 11
Now Jephthah
the Gileadite
was
a mighty
warrior;
he
was the son
of a prostitute,
and Gilead
was his
father.
And Gilead’s
wife
bore
him sons,
who
grew up,
drove Jephthah
out,
and said
to him,
“You shall have no
inheritance
in our father’s
house,
because
you
are the son
of another
woman.”
So Jephthah
fled
from
his brothers
and settled
in the land
of Tob,
where a group of rebels
joined
him
and traveled
with him.
Jephthah
replied
to the elders
of Gilead,
“Did you
not
hate
me
and expel me
from my father’s
house?
So why
then have you come
to me
now
when
you are in distress?”
They
answered
Jephthah,
“This is why
we now
turn
to you,
that you may go
with us,
fight
the Ammonites,
and become
leader
over all
of us
who live
in Gilead.”
But Jephthah
answered,
“If
you
take me back
to fight
the Ammonites
and the LORD
gives
them to me,
will I
really be
your leader?”
So Jephthah
went
with
the elders
of Gilead,
and the people
put
him over themselves
as leader
and commander.
And Jephthah
repeated
all
his terms
in the presence
of the LORD
at Mizpah.
Then Jephthah
sent
messengers
to
the king
of the Ammonites,
saying,
“What
do you have against me
that
you have come
to fight
against
my land?”
The king
of the Ammonites
answered
Jephthah’s
messengers,
“When Israel
came up
out of Egypt,
they seized
my land,
from the Arnon
to
the Jabbok
and all the way
to the Jordan.
Now, therefore,
restore
it
peaceably.”
to tell him,
“This is what
Jephthah
says:
Israel
did not
take away
the land
of Moab
or
of the Ammonites.
But
when Israel came up
out of Egypt,
they
traveled
through the wilderness
to
the Red
Sea
and came
to Kadesh.
Then Israel
sent
messengers
to
the king
of Edom,
saying,
‘Please
let us pass
through your land,’
but the king
of Edom
would not
listen.
They also
sent
messengers to
the king
of Moab,
but he refused.
So Israel
stayed
in Kadesh.
Then Israel traveled
through the wilderness
and bypassed
the lands
of Edom
and Moab.
They came
to
the east side
of the land
of Moab
and camped
on the other side
of the Arnon.
But they did not
enter
the territory
of Moab,
since
the Arnon
was its border.
And Israel
sent
messengers
to
Sihon
king
of the Amorites,
who ruled
in Heshbon,
and said
to him,
‘Please
let us pass
through your land
into
our own place.’
But Sihon
would not
trust
Israel
to pass
through his territory.
So he
gathered
all
his people,
encamped
in Jahaz,
and fought
with
Israel.
Then the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
delivered
Sihon
and all
his people
into the hands
of Israel,
who defeated them.
So Israel
took possession of
all
the land
of the Amorites
who inhabited
that
country,
Now since
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
has driven out
the Amorites
from before
His people
Israel,
should you now
possess it?
Do you not
possess
whatever
your god
Chemosh
grants you?
So also,
we possess
whatever
the LORD
our God
has granted
us.
Are you
now
so much
better
than Balak
son
of Zippor,
king
of Moab?
Did he ever contend
with
Israel
or
fight
against them?
For three
hundred
years
Israel
has lived
in Heshbon,
Aroer,
and their villages,
as well as all
the cities
along
the banks
of the Arnon.
Why
did you not
take them back
during that
time?
I
have not
sinned
against you,
but you
have done
me
wrong
by waging war
against me.
May the LORD,
the Judge,
decide
today
between
the Israelites
and the Ammonites.”
Then the Spirit
of the LORD
came
upon
Jephthah,
and he passed through
Gilead
and
Manasseh,
then through
Mizpah
of Gilead.
And from there
he advanced
against the Ammonites.
then whatever
comes out
of the door
of my house
to greet me
on my triumphant
return
from the Ammonites
will belong to
the LORD,
and I will offer it up
as a burnt offering.”
So Jephthah
crossed over
to
the Ammonites
to fight against them,
and the LORD
delivered them
into his hands.
With a great
blow
he devastated
twenty
cities
from Aroer
to
the vicinity
of Minnith,
as far as
Abel-keramim.
So the Ammonites
were subdued
before
the Israelites.
And when Jephthah
returned
home
to Mizpah,
there
was his daughter
coming out
to meet him
with tambourines
and dancing!
She
was his only child;
he had
no
son
or
daughter
besides her.
As soon as
Jephthah saw
her,
he tore
his clothes
and said,
“No!
Not my daughter!
You have brought me to my knees!
You
have brought great misery upon me,
for I
have given my word
to
the LORD
and cannot
take it back.”
“My father,”
she replied,
“you have given your word
to
the LORD.
Do
to me as
you have said,
for
the LORD
has
avenged
you
of your enemies,
the Ammonites.”
She also said
to
her father,
“Let me do
this
one thing:
Let me wander
for two
months
through
the mountains
with my friends
and mourn
my virginity.”
“Go,”
he said.
And he sent her away
for two
months.
So she
left
with her friends
and mourned
her virginity
upon
the mountains.
After
two
months,
she returned
to
her father,
and he did
to her
as he had vowed.
And she
had never
had relations
with a man.
So it has become
a custom
in Israel
that each year
the young women
of Israel
go out
for four
days
to lament
the daughter
of Jephthah
the Gileadite.