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Judges 11
Jubilee Bible 2000
Judges 11
Jubilee Bible 2000
11 ¶ Now Jephthah existed then, a Gileadite, a mighty man of valour, the son of a harlot unto whom Gilead had begat a son.
2 And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they threw Jephthah out 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 vain men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.
4 ¶ And it came to pass after some days that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 And when the sons 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 thou shalt be our captain that we may fight with the sons 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? Why, therefore, are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, For this same reason we turn again to thee now that thou may go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
9 Then Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the sons of Ammon and the LORD delivers them before me, shall I be your head?
10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Let the LORD hear between us, if we do not comply with thy words.
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and prince over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.
12 ¶ And Jephthah sent ambassadors unto the king of the sons 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 sons of Ammon replied unto the ambassadors of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok and unto the Jordan; now, therefore, restore those lands again peaceably.
14 Then Jephthah sent ambassadors again unto the king of the sons of Ammon,
15 saying unto him, Thus hath Jephthah said, Israel did not take land from Moab, nor land from the sons of Ammon,
16 but 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 hear them. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab, but he would not consent either; therefore Israel abode in Kadesh.
18 Then they went along through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came by the side of the rising of the sun to the land of Moab; they pitched their camp on the other side of Arnon and did not enter 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 did not trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together and pitched camp in Jahaz and fought against Israel.
21 But 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 Amorite that inhabited that land.
22 And they possessed all the border of the Amorites from Arnon even unto Jabbok and from the wilderness even unto the Jordan.
23 So now the LORD God of Israel has expelled the Amorites from before his people Israel and should thou possess it?
24 If Chemosh thy god should expel anyone for you, would thou not possess it? So whoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.
25 Art thou better now in any thing than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Peradventure did he ever strive against Israel? Peradventure did he ever fight against them?
26 Furthermore, Israel has dwelt in Heshbon and her towns and in Aroer and her towns and in all the cities that are along by the coasts of Arnon, for three hundred years. Why, therefore, did ye not recover them within that time?
27 Therefore, I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me; let the LORD, who is the Judge, judge this day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.
28 But the king of the sons of Ammon did not hear the reasons of Jephthah which he sent him.
29 ¶ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed through Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he went unto the sons of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the sons of Ammon into my hands,
31 whoever comes forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer them up for a burnt offering.
32 So Jephthah went over unto the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
33 And he smote them from Aroer, even unto Minnith twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons 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 those 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 has proceeded out of thy mouth, forasmuch as the LORD has taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the sons of Ammon.
37 And she said again 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 companions.
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 had never known a man. From here came the custom in Israel
40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in a year.
Judges 11
New International Version
Judges 11
New International Version
11 Jephthah(A) the Gileadite was a mighty warrior.(B) His father was Gilead;(C) his mother was a prostitute.(D) 2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob,(E) where a gang of scoundrels(F) gathered around him and followed him.
4 Some time later, when the Ammonites(G) were fighting against Israel, 5 the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.”
7 Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house?(H) Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”
8 The elders of Gilead said to him, “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head(I) over all of us who live in Gilead.”
9 Jephthah answered, “Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me—will I really be your head?”
10 The elders of Gilead replied, “The Lord is our witness;(J) we will certainly do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders(K) of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated(L) all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.(M)
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?”
13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon(N) to the Jabbok,(O) all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.”
14 Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, 15 saying:
“This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab(P) or the land of the Ammonites.(Q) 16 But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea[a](R) and on to Kadesh.(S) 17 Then Israel sent messengers(T) to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Give us permission to go through your country,’(U) but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab,(V) and he refused.(W) So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
18 “Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom(X) and Moab, passed along the eastern side(Y) of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon.(Z) They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.
19 “Then Israel sent messengers(AA) to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon,(AB) and said to him, ‘Let us pass through your country to our own place.’(AC) 20 Sihon, however, did not trust Israel[b] to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.(AD)
21 “Then the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and his whole army into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, 22 capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.(AE)
23 “Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 24 Will you not take what your god Chemosh(AF) gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us,(AG) we will possess. 25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor,(AH) king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them?(AI) 26 For three hundred years Israel occupied(AJ) Heshbon, Aroer,(AK) the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time? 27 I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge,(AL) decide(AM) the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.(AN)”
28 The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.
29 Then the Spirit(AO) of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah(AP) of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.(AQ) 30 And Jephthah made a vow(AR) to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph(AS) from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.(AT)”
32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith,(AU) as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.
34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing(AV) to the sound of timbrels!(AW) She was an only child.(AX) Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes(AY) and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.(AZ)”
36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised,(BA) now that the Lord has avenged you(BB) of your enemies,(BC) the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”
38 “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.
From this comes the Israelite tradition 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Footnotes
- Judges 11:16 Or the Sea of Reeds
- Judges 11:20 Or however, would not make an agreement for Israel
Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB)
Copyright © 2013, 2020 by Ransom Press International
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