-
Now
Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of
valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and
Gilead begat Jephthah.
02 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.
03 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.
04 And it came to pass in process of time, that
the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
05 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:
06 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our
captain, that we may fight with the children of
Ammon.
07 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?
08 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.
09 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.
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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.
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