Judges 11 | King James Version

King James Version

1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. 2 And Gilead' wife bare him sons; and his wife' sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father' 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 there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him. 4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 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: 6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. 7 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father' house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? 8 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. 9 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. 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', 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.

New International Reader’s Version

1 Jephthah was a mighty warrior. He was from the land of Gilead. His father’s name was Gilead. Jephthah’s mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead’s wife also had sons by him. When they had grown up, they drove Jephthah away. ‘You aren’t going to get any share of our family’s property,’ they said. ‘You are the son of another woman.’ 3 So Jephthah ran away from his brothers. He made his home in the land of Tob. A group of men who weren’t good for anything gathered around him there. And they followed him. 4 Some time later, the Ammonites were fighting against Israel. 5 So the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 ‘Come with us,’ they said. ‘Be our commander. Then we can fight against the Ammonites.’ 7 Jephthah said to them, ‘Didn’t you hate me? Didn’t you drive me away from my father’s house? Why are you coming to me only when you are in trouble?’ 8 The elders of Gilead replied to him. ‘You are right,’ they said. ‘That’s why we’re turning to you now. Come with us and fight against the Ammonites. Then you will rule over all of us who live in Gilead.’ 9 Jephthah said, ‘Suppose you take me back to fight against the Ammonites. And suppose the LORD gives me victory over them. Then will I really be your leader?’ 10 The elders of Gilead replied, ‘The LORD is our witness. We’ll certainly do as you say.’ 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. And the people made him their leader and commander. He went to Mizpah. There he repeated to the LORD everything he had said. 12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon. They asked, ‘What do you have against me? Why have you attacked my country?’ 13 The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers. He said, ‘Israel came up out of Egypt. At that time they took my land away. They took all the land between the River Arnon and the River Jabbok. It reached all the way to the River Jordan. Now give it back. Then there will be peace.’ 14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of Ammon. 15 They said, ‘Here is what Jephthah says to you. Israel didn’t take the land of Moab. They didn’t take the land of Ammon. 16 When Israel came up out of Egypt, they went through the desert to the Red Sea. From there they went on to Kadesh. 17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom. They said, “Please let us go through your country.” But the king of Edom wouldn’t listen to them. They sent the same message to the king of Moab. But he refused too. So Israel stayed at Kadesh. 18 ‘Next, they travelled through the desert. They travelled along the borders of the lands of Edom and Moab. They passed along the east side of the country of Moab. They camped on the other side of the River Arnon. They didn’t enter the territory of Moab. The River Arnon was Moab’s border. 19 ‘Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon. He was the king of the Amorites. He ruled in Heshbon. They said to him, “Let us pass through your country to our own land.” 20 But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered all his troops together. They camped at Jahaz. And they fought against Israel. 21 ‘Then the LORD, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel. Israel won the battle over them. Amorites were living in the country at that time. And Israel took over all their land. 22 Israel captured all the land between the River Arnon and the River Jabbok. It reached from the desert all the way to the River Jordan. 23 ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out to make room for his people. So what right do you have to take it over? 24 You will take what your god Chemosh gives you, won’t you? In the same way, we will take over what the LORD our God has given us. 25 Are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor? Balak was the king of Moab. Did he ever argue with Israel? Did he ever fight against them? 26 For 300 years Israel has been living in Heshbon and Aroer. They have been living in the settlements around those cities. They have also been living in all the towns along the River Arnon. Why didn’t you take those places back during that time? 27 I haven’t done anything wrong to you. But you are doing something wrong to me. You have gone to war against me. The LORD is the Judge. So let him decide our case today. Let him settle matters between the Israelites and the Ammonites.’ 28 But the king of Ammon didn’t pay any attention to the message Jephthah sent him. 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah. He went across the territories of Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah in the land of Gilead. From there he attacked the people of Ammon. 30 Jephthah made a promise to the LORD. Jephthah said, ‘Hand the Ammonites over to me. 31 If you do, here’s what I’ll do when I come back from winning the battle. Anything that comes out the door of my house to meet me will belong to the LORD. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’ 32 Then Jephthah went over to fight against the Ammonites. The LORD handed them over to him. 33 Jephthah destroyed 20 towns between Aroer and the area of Minnith. He destroyed them all the way to Abel Keramim. So Israel brought Ammon under their control. 34 Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah. And guess who came out to meet him. It was his daughter! She was dancing to the beat of tambourines. She was his only child. He didn’t have any other sons or daughters. 35 When Jephthah saw her, he was so upset that he tore his clothes. He cried out, ‘Oh no, my daughter! You have filled me with trouble and sorrow. I’ve made a promise to the LORD. And I can’t break it.’ 36 ‘My father’, she replied, ‘you have given your word to the LORD. So do to me just what you promised to do. The Ammonites were your enemies. And the LORD has paid them back for what they did to you. 37 But please do one thing for me,’ she continued. ‘Give me two months to wander around in the hills. Let me weep there with my friends. I want to do that because I’ll never get married.’ 38 ‘You may go,’ he said. He let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills. They were filled with sadness because she would never get married. 39 After the two months were over, she returned to her father. He did to her just what he had promised to do. And she was a virgin. So that became a practice in Israel. 40 Each year the young women of Israel go away for four days. They do it in honour of the daughter of Jephthah. He was from the land of Gilead.