Parallel Bible results for "judges 11"

Judges 11

Lexham English Bible LEB

1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior; he was the son of a prostitute, and {Gilead was his father}.

2 Gilead's wife also bore for him sons; and the sons of [his] wife grew up and drove Jephthah away, and they said to him, "You will not inherit the house of our father because you [are] the son of another woman."

3 So Jephthah fled from the presence of his brothers, and he lived in the land of Tob. And {outlaws} gathered around Jephthah and went with him.

4 After a time the {Ammonites} made war with Israel.

5 When the {Ammonites} made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.

6 And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our commander, so that we may make war against the {Ammonites}."

7 Jephthah said to the elders, "Did you not shun me and drive me out from the house of my father? Why do you come to me now when you have trouble?"

8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That being so, we have now returned to you, that you may go with us {to fight} against the {Ammonites} and become for us as head of all the inhabitants of Gilead."

9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back {to fight} against the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gives them {over to me}, will I be your head?"

10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh will be a {witness} between us; we will act according to your word."

11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah.

12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the {Ammonites}, saying, "What [is between] you and me that you have come to me to make war against my land?"

13 And the king of the {Ammonites} said to Jephthah's messengers, "Because Israel took my land from [the] Arnon up to the Jabbok and the Jordan when they came up from Egypt; so then, restore it peacefully."

14 Once again Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the {Ammonites},

15 and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah, 'Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the {Ammonites},

16 because when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the {Red Sea} and went to Kadesh.

17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please let us cross through your land," but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent [messengers] to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.

18 Then they traveled through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and Moab, and came to {the east} side of the land of Moab, and they encamped beyond [the] Arnon; and they did not go into the territory of Moab because [the] Arnon [was] the border of Moab.

19 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, 'Please let us cross through your land {to our country}.'

20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to cross through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people and then encamped at Jahaz; and he made war with Israel.

21 And Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; and Israel occupied all the land of the Amorites inhabiting that land.

22 They occupied all the territory of the Amorites from [the] Arnon up to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness up to the Jordan.

23 So then Yahweh, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before his people Israel, and you want to possess it?

24 Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gave you to possess? Whoever Yahweh our God has driven out before us, we will possess it.

25 So then, [are] you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel, or did he ever make war against them?

26 When Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the towns that [are] {along the Arnon}, for three hundred years, why did you not recover [them] at that time?

27 I have not sinned against you; but you [are] the one who is doing wrong by making war against me. {Let Yahweh judge} today between the {Israelites} and the {Ammonites}."

28 But the king of the {Ammonites} did not listen to the message that Jephthah sent to him.

29 And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through [to] the {Ammonites}.

30 And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, and he said, "If indeed you will give the {Ammonites} into my hand,

31 whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the {Ammonites} will be Yahweh's, and I will offer it [as] a burnt offering."

32 And Jephthah crossed [over] to the {Ammonites} to make war against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand.

33 And he defeated them [with] a very great blow, from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns, up to Abel Keramim. And the {Ammonites} were subdued before the {Israelites}.

34 Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her.

35 And the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. {I made an oath} to Yahweh, and I cannot take [it] back."

36 She said to him, "My father, {you made an oath} to Yahweh. Do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh gave vengeance to you against your enemies, the {Ammonites}."

37 And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months so that I may go wander on the mountains and lament over my virginity, I and my companions.

38 And he said, "Go." He sent her away [for] two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains.

39 At the end of the two months she returned to her father, and he did to her [according to] his vow; and {she did not sleep with a man}. And it became an annual custom in Israel

40 for the daughters of Israel to go and lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for forty days of the year.

New International Version NIV

1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute.

2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.”

3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.

4 Some time later, when the Ammonites were fighting against Israel,

5 the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

6 “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.”

7 Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”

8 The elders of Gilead said to him, “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.”

9 Jephthah answered, “Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me—will I really be your head?”

10 The elders of Gilead replied, “The LORD is our witness; we will certainly do as you say.”

11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?”

13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.”

14 Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king,

15 saying: “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.

16 But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh.

17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Give us permission to go through your country,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

18 “Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.

19 “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Let us pass through your country to our own place.’

20 Sihon, however, did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.

21 “Then the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and his whole army into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country,

22 capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.

23 “Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over?

24 Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess.

25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them?

26 For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time?

27 I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the LORD, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”

28 The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.

29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.

30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands,

31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands.

33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.

35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.”

36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.

37 But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

38 “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.

39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. From this comes the Israelite tradition

40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.