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Judges 11

New Living Translation NLT

1 Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute.

2 Gilead’s wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. “You will not get any of our father’s inheritance,” they said, “for you are the son of a prostitute.”

3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him.

4 At about this time, the Ammonites began their war against Israel.

5 When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob.

6 The elders said, “Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammonites!”

7 But Jephthah said to them, “Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now when you’re in trouble?”

8 “Because we need you,” the elders replied. “If you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead.”

9 Jephthah said to the elders, “Let me get this straight. If I come with you and if the LORD gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?”

10 “The LORD is our witness,” the elders replied. “We promise to do whatever you say.”

11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of the LORD, Jephthah repeated what he had said to the elders.

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, asking, “Why have you come out to fight against my land?”

13 The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land peaceably.”

14 Jephthah sent this message back to the Ammonite king:

15 “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not steal any land from Moab or Ammon.

16 When the people of Israel arrived at Kadesh on their journey from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea,

17 they sent messengers to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through his land. But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Moab for similar permission, but he wouldn’t let them pass through either. So the people of Israel stayed in Kadesh.

18 “Finally, they went around Edom and Moab through the wilderness. They traveled along Moab’s eastern border and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they never once crossed the Arnon River into Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

19 “Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination.

20 But King Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Jahaz and attacked them.

21 But the LORD, the God of Israel, gave his people victory over King Sihon. So Israel took control of all the land of the Amorites, who lived in that region,

22 from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the eastern wilderness to the Jordan.

23 “So you see, it was the LORD, the God of Israel, who took away the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should we give it back to you?

24 You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the LORD our God gives us.

25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he try to make a case against Israel for disputed land? Did he go to war against them?

26 “Israel has been living here for 300 years, inhabiting Heshbon and its surrounding settlements, all the way to Aroer and its settlements, and in all the towns along the Arnon River. Why have you made no effort to recover it before now?

27 Therefore, I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the LORD, who is judge, decide today which of us is right—Israel or Ammon.”

28 But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah’s message.

29 At that time the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites.

30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD . He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites,

31 I will give to the LORD whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

32 So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave him victory.

33 He crushed the Ammonites, devastating about twenty towns from Aroer to an area near Minnith and as far away as Abel-keramim. In this way Israel defeated the Ammonites.

34 When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters.

35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “Oh, my daughter!” he cried out. “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.”

36 And she said, “Father, if you have made a vow to the LORD, you must do to me what you have vowed, for the LORD has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites.

37 But first let me do this one thing: Let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin.”

38 “You may go,” Jephthah said. And he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children.

39 When she returned home, her father kept the vow he had made, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in Israel

40 for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah’s daughter.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Jephthah the Gileadite was one tough warrior. He was the son of a whore, but Gilead was his father.

2 Meanwhile Gilead's legal wife had given him other sons, and when they grew up, his wife's sons threw Jephthah out. They told him: "You're not getting any of our family inheritance - you're the son of another woman."

3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and went to live in the land of Tob. Some riff-raff joined him and went around with him.

4 Some time passed. And then the Ammonites started fighting Israel.

5 With the Ammonites at war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

6 They said to Jephthah: "Come. Be our general and we'll fight the Ammonites."

7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead: "But you hate me. You kicked me out of my family home. So why are you coming to me now? Because you are in trouble. Right?"

8 The elders of Gilead replied, "That's it exactly. We've come to you to get you to go with us and fight the Ammonites. You'll be the head of all of us, all the Gileadites."

9 Jephthah addressed the elders of Gilead, "So if you bring me back home to fight the Ammonites and God gives them to me, I'll be your head - is that right?"

10 They said, "God is witness between us; whatever you say, we'll do."

11 Jephthah went along with the elders of Gilead. The people made him their top man and general. And Jephthah repeated what he had said before God at Mizpah.

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites with a message: "What's going on here that you have come into my country picking a fight?"

13 The king of the Ammonites told Jephthah's messengers: "Because Israel took my land when they came up out of Egypt - from the Arnon all the way to the Jabbok and to the Jordan. Give it back peaceably and I'll go."

14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites with the message:

15 "Jephthah's word: Israel took no Moabite land and no Ammonite land.

16 When they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the desert as far as the Red Sea, arriving at Kadesh.

17 There Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom saying, 'Let us pass through your land, please.' But the king of Edom wouldn't let them. Israel also requested permission from the king of Moab, but he wouldn't let them cross either. They were stopped in their tracks at Kadesh.

18 So they traveled across the desert and circled around the lands of Edom and Moab. They came out east of the land of Moab and set camp on the other side of the Arnon - they didn't set foot in Moabite territory, for Arnon was the Moabite border.

19 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites at Heshbon the capital. Israel asked, 'Let us pass, please, through your land on the way to our country.'

20 But Sihon didn't trust Israel to cut across his land; he got his entire army together, set up camp at Jahaz, and fought Israel.

21 But God, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his troops to Israel. Israel defeated them. Israel took all the Amorite land,

22 all Amorite land from Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.

23 It was God, the God of Israel, who pushed out the Amorites in favor of Israel; so who do you think you are to try to take it over?

24 Why don't you just be satisfied with what your god Chemosh gives you and we'll settle for what God, our God, gives us?

25 Do you think you're going to come off better than Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab? Did he get anywhere in opposing Israel? Did he risk war?

26 All this time - it's been three hundred years now! - that Israel has lived in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the towns along the Arnon, why didn't you try to snatch them away then?

27 No, I haven't wronged you. But this is an evil thing that you are doing to me by starting a fight. Today God the Judge will decide between the People of Israel and the people of Ammon."

28 But the king of the Ammonites refused to listen to a word that Jephthah had sent him.

29 God's Spirit came upon Jephthah. He went across Gilead and Manasseh, went through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there approached the Ammonites.

30 Jephthah made a vow before God: "If you give me a clear victory over the Ammonites,

31 then I'll give to God whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in one piece from among the Ammonites - I'll offer it up in a sacrificial burnt offering."

32 Then Jephthah was off to fight the Ammonites. And God gave them to him.

33 He beat them soundly, all the way from Aroer to the area around Minnith as far as Abel Keramim - twenty cities! A massacre! Ammonites brought to their knees by the People of Israel.

34 Jephthah came home to Mizpah. His daughter ran from the house to welcome him home - dancing to tambourines! She was his only child. He had no son or daughter except her.

35 When he realized who it was, he ripped his clothes, saying, "Ah, dearest daughter - I'm dirt. I'm despicable. My heart is torn to shreds. I made a vow to God and I can't take it back!"

36 She said, "Dear father, if you made a vow to God, do to me what you vowed; God did his part and saved you from your Ammonite enemies."

37 And then she said to her father, "But let this one thing be done for me. Give me two months to wander through the hills and lament my virginity since I will never marry, I and my dear friends."

38 "Oh yes, go," he said. He sent her off for two months. She and her dear girlfriends went among the hills, lamenting that she would never marry.

39 At the end of the two months, she came back to her father. He fulfilled the vow with her that he had made. She had never slept with a man.

40 that for four days every year the young women of Israel went out to mourn for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.