The Book of Judges

And Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. And he [was] the son of a harlot woman; and Gilead fathered Jephthah.

And the wife of Gilead bore sons to him. And the sons of the wife grew up, and [they] threw Jephthah out, and said to him, You shall not inherit in the house of your father, for you [are] the son of another woman.

And Jephthah fled from the face of his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob. And worthless men were gathered to Jephthah, and went out with him.

And it happened after some time, the sons of Ammon fought with Israel.

And it happened when the sons of Ammon fought with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.

And they said to Jephthah, Come, and you shall be our commander, that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.

And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Have you not hated me? Yea, you threw me out from my father's house. Why have you come to me when you [are] in distress?

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, For this reason we have come back to you now; and you shall go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon. And you shall be our head, to all the people of Gilead.

And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon, and Jehovah gives them up before me, shall I be your head?

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Jehovah shall be witness between us; surely we will do according to your word.

And Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him head over them, and as commander. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Jehovah in Mizpeh.

And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, What have you to do with me, that you have come in to me to fight in my land?

And the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took my land when he came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. And now, restore them in peace.

And Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon,

and said to him, So says Jephthah, Israel did not take the land of Moab, and the land of the sons of Ammon.

For when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went in the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds, and came in at Kadesh.

And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass on through your land, and the king of Edom did not listen. And [Israel] sent also to the king of Moab, and he was not willing. And Israel remained in Kadesh.

And he went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came in at the rising of the sun to the land of Moab. And they camped beyond Arnon, and did not come into the border of Moab, for Arnon was the border of Moab.

And Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, Please let us pass on through your land, to my place.

And Sihon did not trust Israel to pass on through his border. And Sihon gathered all his people and they camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

And Jehovah the God of Israel gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. And Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land.

And they took possession of all the border of the Amorites from Arnon and to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness, and to the Jordan.

And now, Jehovah the God of Israel has expelled the Amorite from before His people Israel. And would you possess it?

Whatever Chemosh your god causes you to possess, do you not possess it? And all that which Jehovah our God has expelled from before us, we will possess!

And now, [are] you at all any better than Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab? Did he indeed ever strive with Israel? Did he ever fight against them?

When Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and in its towns, in all the cities by the sides of Arnon three hundred years, then why have you not delivered them in that time?

So I have not sinned against you, and you are doing me wrong to fight against me. Jehovah the Judge shall judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.

And the king of the sons of Ammon did not listen to he words of Jephthah which he sent to him.

And the Spirit of Jehovah was on Jephthah. And he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed on to the sons of Ammon.

And Jephthah vowed a vow to Jehovah, and said, If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand,

then it shall be that anything which comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Amnion, it shall belong to Jehovah; and I will offer it [instead] of a burnt offering.

And Jephthah passed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them. And Jehovah delivered them into his hand.

And he struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to the meadow of the vineyards, a very great destruction. And the sons of Ammon were humbled before the sons of Israel.

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh to his house. And, behold his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses. And she only, she alone; there was no [other] son or daughter to him.

And it happened when he saw her, he tore his garments, and said, Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those making me low. And surely I have opened my mouth to Jehovah, and I am not able to take it back.

And she said to her father, Let this thing be done to me. Leave me alone two months, and let me go and descend on the mountains. And I will weep for my virginity, my friends and I.

And he said, Go. And he sent her away two months. And she went, she and her friends. And she wept for her virginity on the mountains.

And it happened at the end of two months, she returned to her father. And he did to her his vow which he had vowed. And she never knew a man. And it is a fixed custom in Israel,

from days to days, the daughters of Israel go to tell again of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.