Judges 11

1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was being exalted in power, but he was the son of a harlot who bore Jephthah to Gilead.

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2Gilead'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.'

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3Then Jephthah fled before his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and vain men banded together with Jephthah, and they went out with him.

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4And it came to be that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, and the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

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5Then they said to Jephthah, 'Come and be our commander so that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.'

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6So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, 'Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father's house, and exile me from you? Why have you come to me now when you are in need?'

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7And 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 sons of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.'

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8So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, 'If you take me back home to fight against the sons of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them to me, I shall indeed be your head.'

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9And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, 'The Lord will be a witness between us, if we do not act according to your word.'

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10Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.

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11Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, 'What is there between me and you, that you have come to fight against me in my land?'

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12And the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, 'It is because Israel took away my land when it came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands in peace, and I will go.'

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13So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon

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14and said to him, 'Thus says Jephthah, 'Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the sons of Ammon;

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15for when they came up from Egypt, Israel walked through the desert as far as the sea of Siph and came to Kadesh.

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16Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let me pass through your land.' But the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained in Kadesh.

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17And they went along through the desert and circled the land of Edom and the land of Moab, having come from the rising of the sun to the land of Moab, and encamped beyond the Arnon. But they did not cross the borders of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

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18Then 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.'

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19But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

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20And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote him. Thus Israel inherited all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country,

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21from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.

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22And now that the Lord God of Israel has removed the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you then inherit it?

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23Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to inherit? And we will inherit everything the Lord our God removes before us.

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24And 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?

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25While they dwelt in Heshbon and in her borders, in the land of Aroer and in her borders, and in all the cities along the banks of the River Jordan, for three hundred years, why did you not deliver them within that time?

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26And I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the Lord render judgment today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.' '

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27However, the king of the sons of Ammon did not heed the words Jephthah sent him.

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28Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed by the lookout of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced beyond the sons of Ammon.

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29And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, 'If You deliver the sons of Ammon into my hand,

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30then it shall be that whoever first comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, he shall be the Lord's. I will offer him up for a whole burnt offering.'

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31So Jephthah advanced toward the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hand.

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32And he struck them from Aroer until he came to Arnon, twenty cities in number, and as far as Abel Keramim, with widespread destruction everywhere. Thus the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

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33When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold his daughter came out to meet him with drums and dances, and she was his only child. He had no other son or daughter.

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34And when he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, 'Ah, ah, my daughter! You have troubled me greatly! It is you who are my trouble! For I have opened my mouth against you to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it.'

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35So she said to him, 'My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me as it came from your mouth, because the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, the sons of Ammon.'

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36Then she said to her father, 'Let my father do this one thing for me. Leave me alone for two months to wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity along with my companions.'

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37So he said, 'Go.' And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.

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38And at the end of two months she returned to her father, and he carried out the vow he vowed, and she knew no man. And it became a custom in Israel

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39that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

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