Jephthah Saves His People
Judges 11:1-40
1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man
of valor, but he was the son
of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah.
2 Gilead's wife bore sons; and when
his wife's sons grew up, they drove
Jephthah out, and said to him, "You shall have no inheritance in our
father's
house, for you are the son of another woman."
3 Then Jephthah fled from his
brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless
men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.
4 It came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 And so it was, when the people of
Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders
of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6 Then they said to Jephthah,
"Come and be our commander, that we may fight
against the people of Ammon."
7 So Jephthah said to the elders of
Gilead, "Did you not hate me, and expel me
from my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in
distress?"
8 And the elders of Gilead said to
Jephthah, "That is why we have turned again to
you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be
our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
9 So Jephthah said to the elders of
Gilead, "If you take me back home to fight against
the people of Ammon, and Yahweh delivers them to me, shall I be your head?"
10 And the elders of Gilead said to
Jephthah, "Yahweh will be a witness between us,
if we do not do according to your words."
11 Then Jephthah went with the
elders of Gilead, and the people made him head
and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in
Mizpah.
12 Now Jephthah sent
messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, "What do
you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my
land?"
13 And the king of the people of
Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, "Because
Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon as
far as the
Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably."
14 So Jephthah again sent
messengers to the king of the people of Ammon,
15 and said to him, "Thus says
Jephthah: 'Israel did not take away the land of Moab,
nor the land of the people of Ammon;
16 'for when Israel came up from
Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far
as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17 'Then Israel sent messengers to
the king of Edom, saying, "Please let me pass
through your land." But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner
they
sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained in
Kadesh.
18 'And they went along through the
wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom
and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on
the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the
Arnon
was the border of Moab.
19 'Then Israel sent messengers to
Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and
Israel said to him, "Please let us pass through your land into our
place."
20 'But Sihon did not trust Israel
to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all
his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
21 'And Yahweh Elohim of Israel
delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of
Israel, and they defeated them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of
the
Amorites, who inhabited that country.
22 'They took possession of all the
territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to
the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23 'And now Yahweh Elohim of Israel
has dispossessed the Amorites from before
His people Israel; should you then possess it?
24 'Will you not possess whatever
Chemosh your elohim gives you to possess?
So whatever Yahweh our Elohim takes possession of before us, we will
possess.
25 'And now, are you any
better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did
he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them?
26 'While Israel dwelt in Heshbon
and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all
the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you
not recover
them within that time?
27 'Therefore I have not sinned
against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me.
May Yahweh, the Judge, render judgment this day between the children of Israel
and the
people of Ammon.' "
28 However, the king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him.
29 Then the Spirit of Yahweh came
upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh,
and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced
toward the people
of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah made a vow to
Yahweh, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of
Ammon into my hands,
31 "then it will be that
whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return
in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be Yahweh's, and I will offer it
up as a burnt offering."
32 So Jephthah advanced toward the
people of Ammon to fight against them, and Yahweh delivered them
into his hands.
33 And he defeated them from Aroer
as far as Minnith -- twenty cities -- and to Abel Keramim, with a
very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the
children of Israel.
34 When Jephthah came to his house
at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with
timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he
had neither son nor daughter.
35 And it came to pass, when he saw
her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter!
You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have
given my word to
Yahweh, and I cannot go back on it."
36 So she said to him, "My
father, if you have given your word to Yahweh, do to me according to
what has gone out of your mouth, because Yahweh has avenged you of your enemies,
the people of
Ammon."
37 Then she said to her father,
"Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may
go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and
I."
38 So he said, "Go." And
he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and
bewailed
her virginity on the mountains.
39 And it was so at the end of two
months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with
her which he had vowed. She knew no man. And it became a custom in Israel
40 that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.