Judges
Chapter 11

Jephthah captains Gilead

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he [was] the son of an harlot and Gilead begat Jephthah.
11:2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons ; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said to him, You will not inherit in our father's house ; for you [are] the son of a strange woman.
11:3 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.
11:4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
11:5 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
11:6 And they said to Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
11:7 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Did not ya'll hate me, and expel me out of my father's house ? and why are ya'll come to me now when ya'll are in distress ?
11:8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to ya'll now, that you may go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
11:9 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If ya'll bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head ?
11:10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to your words.
11:11 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 Mizpeh.

Jephthah's message to Ammon

11:12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you to do with me, that you are come against me to fight in my land ?
11:13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even to Jabbok, and to Jordan now therefore restore those [lands] again peaceably.
11:14 And Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon
11:15 And said to him, This says Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon
11:16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness to the Red sea, and came to Kadesh ;
11:17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray ya'll , pass through your land but the king of Edom would not listen [thereto]. And in like manner they sent to the king of Moab but he would not [consent ] and Israel abode in Kadesh.
11:18 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 on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab for Arnon [was] the border of Moab.
11:19 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon ; and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray ya'll , through your land into my place.
11:20 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.
11:21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
11:22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even to Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to Jordan.
11:23 So now the LORD God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess it?
11:24 Wilt not you possess that which Chemosh your god gives ya'll to possess ? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.
11:25 And now [are] you 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,
11:26 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 ya'll not recover [them] within that time ?
11:27 Wherefore I have not sinned against ya'll , but you do me wrong to war against me the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
11:28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon listened not to the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

Jephthah's vow

11:29 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.
11:30 And Jephthah vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, If you will without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
11:31 Then it shall be, that what ever comes 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.

Jephthah conquers Ammon

11:32 So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
11:33 And he struck them from Aroer, even till you come to Minnith, [even] twenty cities, and to the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. This the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
11:34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh to 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.
11:35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! you have brought me very low, and you are one of them that trouble me for I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot go back.
11:36 And she said to him, My father, [if] you have opened your mouth to the LORD, do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth ; forasmuch as the LORD has taken vengeance for ya'll of your enemies, [even] of the children of Ammon.
11:37 And she said to 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.
11:38 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.
11:39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned to 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,
11:40 [That] the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

Judges Index || Main Index

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8 || Chapter 9 || Chapter 10

Chapter 11 || Chapter 12 || Chapter 13 || Chapter 14 || Chapter 15 || Chapter 16 || Chapter 17 || Chapter 18 || Chapter 19 || Chapter 20

Chapter 21