07:011:001 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he
was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
07:011:002 And Gilead's wife bare 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.
07:011:003 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.
07:011:004 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of
Ammon made war against Israel.
07:011:005 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:
07:011:006 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we
may fight with the children of Ammon.
07:011:007 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate
me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come
unto me now when ye are in distress?
07:011:008 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.
07:011:009 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?
07:011:010 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be
witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
07:011:011 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 Mizpeh.
07:011:012 And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of
Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art
come against me to fight in my land?
07:011:013 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 Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again
peaceably.
07:011:014 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the
children of Ammon:
07:011:015 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away
the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
07:011:016 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the
wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
07:011:017 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.
07:011:018 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 on the other side of Arnon,
but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the
border of Moab.
07:011:019 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.
07:011:020 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but
Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz,
and fought against Israel.
07:011:021 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.
07:011:022 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon
even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
07:011:023 So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites
from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
07:011:024 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.
07:011:025 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,
07:011:026 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and
her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts
of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not
recover them within that time?
07:011:027 Wherefore 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.
07:011:028 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto
the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
07:011:029 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed
over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead,
and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of
Ammon.
07:011:030 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou
shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine
hands,
07:011:031 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of 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.
07:011:032 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight
against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
07:011:033 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.
07:011:034 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his
daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances:
and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor
daughter.
07:011:035 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.
07:011:036 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 of thine enemies, even of the children of
Ammon.
07:011:037 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.
07:011:038 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.
07:011:039 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,
07:011:040 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the
daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.