Parallel Bible results for "judges 11"

Judges 11

Third Millennium Bible TMB

1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah.

2 And Gilead's wife bore him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah and said unto him, "Thou shalt not inherit in our father's 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's house? And why have 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 Mizpah.

12 And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, "What hast thou to do with me, that thou hast 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 the 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 camp 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 borders; but Sihon gathered all his people together and pitched camp 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 borders of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok and from the wilderness even unto the 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 are along by the borders of Arnon, three hundred years? Why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?

27 Therefore 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 However 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 Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah 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 from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, 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 Mizpah unto his house, and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child. Besides 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 on 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.

GOD'S WORD Translation GW

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.