Jud 11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was
the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
Jud 11:2 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.
Jud 11:3 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.
Jud 11:4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made
war against Israel.
Jud 11:5 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:
Jud 11:6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may
fight with the children of Ammon.
Jud 11:7 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?
Jud 11:8 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.
Jud 11:9 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?
Jud 11:10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The Lord be witness
between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
Jud 11:11 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.
Jud 11:12 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?
Jud 11:13 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.
Jud 11:14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of
Ammon:
Jud 11:15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land
of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
Jud 11:16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness
unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
Jud 11:17 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.
Jud 11:18 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.
Jud 11:19 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.
Jud 11:20 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.
Jud 11:21 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.
Jud 11:22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even
unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
Jud 11:23 So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from
before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
Jud 11:24 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.
Jud 11:25 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,
Jud 11:26 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?
Jud 11:27 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.
Jud 11:28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words
of Jephthah which he sent him.
Jud 11:29 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.
Jud 11:30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt
without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
Jud 11:31 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.
Jud 11:32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against
them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands.
Jud 11:33 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.
Jud 11:34 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.
Jud 11:35 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.
Jud 11:36 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.
Jud 11:37 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.
Jud 11:38 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.
Jud 11:39 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,
Jud 11:40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of
Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.