² Jephthah replied, ‘I did ask for your help! That was when my people and I first had a quarrel with the Ammonites. But you refused to rescue us. ³ When I realized that you would not come to help us, we attacked the Ammonites ourselves. I put my life in danger. But the Lord put the Ammonites under my power. So why have you come to attack me now?’

⁴ Jephthah brought together all the men of Gilead. They fought against the men of Ephraim's tribe. The men of Gilead won the fight. They were angry because the men of Ephraim had insulted them. They had said, ‘You people of Gilead have run away to live on the land of Ephraim and Manasseh.’