Judges 11; Judges 12; Luke 6:1-26

1 Jephthah was a soldier from the region of Gilead. Jephthah's father was named Gilead. His mother was a prostitute.

2 Gilead's wife also gave birth to sons. When his wife's sons grew up, they threw Jephthah out. They told him, "You'll get no inheritance from our father. You're the son of that other woman."

3 Jephthah fled from his brothers. He went to live in the land of Tob. Worthless men gathered around Jephthah and went out [on raids] with him.

4 Later, Ammon waged war with Israel.

5 When the Ammonites attacked Israel, Gilead's leaders went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

6 They said to Jephthah, "Come and be our commander so that we can wage war against Ammon."

7 But Jephthah replied to Gilead's leaders, "Don't you hate me? Didn't you throw me out of my father's house? So why are you coming to me now when you're in trouble?"

8 Gilead's leaders answered Jephthah, "The reason we've turned to you now is that we want you to go with us and wage war against Ammon. You will be the ruler of everyone who lives in Gilead."

9 Jephthah told them, "If you take me back to fight against Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, I will be your leader."

10 Gilead's leaders said to Jephthah, "The LORD is a witness between us. We will certainly do what you say."

11 Jephthah went with them, and the people made him their leader and commander. So Jephthah went to Mizpah and repeated all these things in the presence of the LORD.

12 Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon. They asked the king, "Why did you invade my land and wage war against me?"

13 The king of Ammon answered Jephthah's messengers, "When the people of Israel left Egypt, they took my land. It stretched from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and the Jordan River. Now give it back peacefully."

14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of Ammon.

15 They said, "This is what Jephthah says: The people of Israel didn't take away the land belonging to Moab or Ammon.

16 When the people of Israel left Egypt, they went through the desert to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.

17 The people of 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 also sent messengers to the king of Moab. But he wouldn't allow it, either. So the people of Israel remained at Kadesh.

18 "Then they went through the desert, by-passing Edom and Moab. They camped east of Moab--east of the Arnon River. They did not cross the Arnon River because it was Moab's border.

19 "Then the people of Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites. Sihon ruled from Heshbon. The people of Israel said to him, 'Please let us go through your land to our own.'

20 But Sihon did not trust the Israelites enough to let them go through his territory. Sihon assembled all his troops. He camped at Jahaz and attacked Israel.

21 But the LORD God of Israel handed Sihon and all his people over to Israel. Israel defeated them and took possession of all the land of the Amorites who lived there.

22 Israel took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and from the desert to the Jordan River.

23 "The LORD God of Israel forced the Amorites out of the way of his people Israel. So what right do you have to take it back?

24 Shouldn't you take possession of what your god Chemosh took for you? Shouldn't we take everything the LORD our God took for us?

25 You're not any better than Balak, son of King Zippor of Moab, are you? Did he ever have a case against Israel? Or did he ever fight against Israel?

26 Israel has now lived in Heshbon, Aroer, all their villages, and in all the cities along the Arnon River for 300 years. Why didn't you recapture these cities during that time?

27 I haven't sinned against you. But you have done wrong by waging war against me. The LORD is the judge who will decide today whether Israel or Ammon is right."

28 But the king of Ammon didn't listen to the message Jephthah sent him.

29 Then the LORD's Spirit came over Jephthah. Jephthah went through Gilead, Manasseh, and Mizpah in Gilead [to gather an army]. From Mizpah in Gilead Jephthah went to attack Ammon.

30 Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, "If you will really hand Ammon over to me,

31 then whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from Ammon will belong to the LORD. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."

32 So Jephthah went to fight against Ammon. The LORD handed the people of Ammon over to him.

33 He defeated them from Aroer to Minnith and on to Abel Keramim, 20 cities in all. It was a decisive defeat. So the Ammonites were crushed by the people of Israel.

34 When Jephthah went to his home in Mizpah, he saw his daughter coming out to meet him. She was dancing with tambourines in her hands. She was his only child. Jephthah had no other sons or daughters.

35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in grief and said, "Oh no, Daughter! You've brought me to my knees! What disaster you've brought me! I made a foolish promise to the LORD. Now I can't break it."

36 She said to him, "Father, you made a promise to the LORD. Do to me whatever you promised since the LORD has punished your enemy Ammon."

37 Then she said to her father, "Do me a favor. Give me two months for my friends and me to walk in the mountains and mourn that I will never have an opportunity to get married."

38 "Go!" he said, and he sent her off for two months. She and her friends went to the mountains, and she cried about never being able to get married.

39 At the end of those two months she came back to her father. He did to her what he had vowed, and she never had a husband. So the custom began in Israel

40 that for four days every year the girls in Israel would go out to sing the praises of the daughter of Jephthah, the man from Gilead.

1 The men of Ephraim were summoned to fight. They crossed [the Jordan River] to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, "Why did you fight against Ammon without inviting us to go with you? Now we're going to burn your house down with you in it."

2 Jephthah answered, "My people and I were involved in a legal dispute with Ammon. I asked you for help, but you didn't rescue me from them.

3 When I saw that you would not rescue me, I risked my life and went to fight the people of Ammon. The LORD handed them over to me. So why did you come to fight against me today?"

4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim. [They did this because] Ephraim had said, "You people from Gilead are nothing but fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh."

5 The men of Gilead captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River leading back to Ephraim. Whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, "Let me cross," the men of Gilead would ask, "Are you from Ephraim?" If he answered, "No,"

6 they would tell him, "Say the word shibboleth." If the fugitive would say sibboleth, because he couldn't pronounce the word correctly, they would grab him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. At that time 42,000 men from Ephraim died.

7 Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then Jephthah of Gilead died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

8 After Jephthah, Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel.

9 He had 30 sons and 30 daughters. His sons and daughters married people from outside their own families. He judged Israel for seven years.

10 When Ibzan died, he was buried in Bethlehem.

11 After Ibzan, Elon from the tribe of Zebulun judged Israel. He judged Israel for ten years.

12 When Elon died, he was buried in Aijalon in the territory of Zebulun.

13 After Elon, Abdon, son of Hillel, from Pirathon judged Israel.

14 He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years.

15 When Abdon died, he was buried in Pirathon, in the territory of Ephraim, in the mountains of Amalek.

1 Once, on a day of worship, Jesus was walking through some grainfields. His disciples were picking the heads of grain, removing the husks, and eating the grain.

2 Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are your disciples doing something that is not right to do on the day of worship?"

3 Jesus answered them, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his men were hungry?

4 Haven't you read how he went into the house of God, ate the bread of the presence, and gave some of it to the men who were with him? He had no right to eat those loaves. Only the priests have that right."

5 Then he added, "The Son of Man has authority over the day of worship."

6 On another day of worship, Jesus went into a synagogue to teach. A man whose right hand was paralyzed was there.

7 The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely. They wanted to see whether he would heal the man on the day of worship so that they could find a way to accuse him of doing something wrong.

8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he told the man with the paralyzed hand, "Get up, and stand in the center [of the synagogue]!" The man got up and stood there.

9 Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you--what is the right thing to do on a day of worship: to do good or evil, to give a person his health or to destroy it?"

10 He looked around at all of them and then said to the man, "Hold out your hand." The man did so, and his hand became normal again.

11 The scribes and Pharisees were furious and began to discuss with each other what they could do to Jesus.

12 At that time Jesus went to a mountain to pray. He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

13 When it was day, he called his disciples. He chose twelve of them and called them apostles.

14 They were Simon (whom Jesus named Peter) and Simon's brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,

15 Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the Zealot),

16 Judas (son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor).

17 Jesus came down from the mountain with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples and many other people were there. They had come from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.

18 They wanted to hear him and be cured of their diseases. Those who were tormented by evil spirits were cured.

19 The entire crowd was trying to touch him because power was coming from him and curing all of them.

20 Jesus looked at his disciples and said, "Blessed are those who are poor. The kingdom of God is theirs.

21 Blessed are those who are hungry. They will be satisfied. Blessed are those who are crying. They will laugh.

22 Blessed are you when people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because you are committed to the Son of Man.

23 Rejoice then, and be very happy! You have a great reward in heaven. That's the way their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 "But how horrible it will be for those who are rich. They have had their comfort.

25 How horrible it will be for those who are well-fed. They will be hungry. How horrible it will be for those who are laughing. They will mourn and cry.

26 How horrible it will be for you when everyone says nice things about you. That's the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.