^{1 Ref} Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute: and Gilead became the father of Jephthah.

^{2 Ref} Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman.

^{3 Ref} Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him.

^{4 Ref} It happened after a while, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

^{5 Ref} It was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob;

⁶ and they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.

^{7 Ref} Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Didn't you hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? and why are you come to me now when you are in distress?

^{8 Ref} The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Therefore are we turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

^{9 Ref} Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh deliver them before me, shall I be your head?

^{10 Ref} The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Yahweh shall be witness between us; surely according to your word so will we do.

^{11 Ref} Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah.

^{12 Ref} Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you to do with me, that you are come to me to fight against my land?

^{13 Ref} The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan: now therefore restore those [lands] again peaceably.

^{14 Ref} Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon;

^{15 Ref} and he said to him, Thus says Jephthah: Israel didn't take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon,

^{16 Ref} but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh;

^{17 Ref} then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass through your land; but the king of Edom didn't listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel abode in Kadesh.

^{18 Ref} Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn't come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

^{19 Ref} Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray you, through your land to my place.

^{20 Ref} But Sihon didn't trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

²¹ Yahweh, the 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.

^{22 Ref} They possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan.

²³ So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them?

^{24 Ref} Won't you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever Yahweh our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.

^{25 Ref} Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them?

^{26 Ref} While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; why didn't you recover them within that time?

^{27 Ref} I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me: Yahweh, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

^{28 Ref} However the king of the children of Ammon didn't listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

^{29 Ref} Then the Spirit of Yahweh came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.

^{30 Ref} Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand,

^{31 Ref} then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

^{32 Ref} So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh delivered them into his hand.

^{33 Ref} He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

^{34 Ref} Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

^{35 Ref} It happened, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! you have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to Yahweh, and I can't go back.

^{36 Ref} She said to him, My father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon.

^{37 Ref} She said to her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.

³⁸ He said, Go. He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains.

^{39 Ref} It happened 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 was a virgin. It was a custom in Israel,

^{40 Ref} that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

^{1 Ref} And Jephthah the Gileadite hath been a mighty man of valour, and he `is' son of a woman, a harlot; and Gilead begetteth Jephthah,

^{2 Ref} and the wife of Gilead beareth to him sons, and the wife's sons grow up and cast out Jephthah, and say to him, `Thou dost not inherit in the house of our father; for son of another woman `art' thou.'

^{3 Ref} And Jephthah fleeth from the face of his brethren, and dwelleth in the land of Tob; and vain men gather themselves together unto Jephthah, and they go out with him.

^{4 Ref} And it cometh to pass, after a time, that the Bene-Ammon fight with Israel,

^{5 Ref} and it cometh to pass, when the Bene-Ammon have fought with Israel, that the elders of Gilead go to take Jephthah from the land of Tob;

⁶ and they say unto Jephthah, `Come, and thou hast been to us for captain, and we fight against the Bene-Ammon.'

^{7 Ref} And Jephthah saith to the elders of Gilead, `Have not ye hated me? and ye cast me out from the house of my father, and wherefore have ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?'

^{8 Ref} and the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, `Therefore, now, we have turned back unto thee; and thou hast gone with us, and fought against the Bene-Ammon, and thou hast been to us for head -- to all the inhabitants of Gilead.'

^{9 Ref} And Jephthah saith unto the elders of Gilead, `If ye are taking me back to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah hath given them before me -- I, am I to you for a head?'

^{10 Ref} And the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, `Jehovah is hearkening between us -- if according to thy word we do not so.'

^{11 Ref} And Jephthah goeth with the elders of Gilead, and the people set him over them for head and for captain, and Jephthah speaketh all his words before Jehovah in Mizpeh.

^{12 Ref} And Jephthah sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon, saying, `What -- to me and to thee, that thou hast come in unto me, to fight in my land.'

^{13 Ref} And the king of the Bene-Ammon saith unto the messengers of Jephthah, `Because Israel took my land in his coming up out of Egypt, from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan; and now, restore them in peace.'

^{14 Ref} And Jephthah addeth yet and sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon,

^{15 Ref} and saith to him, `Thus said Jephthah, Israel took not the land of Moab, and the land of the Bene-Ammon,

^{16 Ref} for in their coming up out of Egypt, Israel goeth in the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and cometh in to Kadesh,

^{17 Ref} and Israel sendeth messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me pass over, I pray thee, through thy land, and the king of Edom hearkened not; and also unto the king of Moab hath `Israel' sent, and he hath not been willing; and Israel abideth in Kadesh,

^{18 Ref} and he goeth through the wilderness, and compasseth the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and cometh in at the rising of the sun of the land of Moab, and they encamp beyond Arnon, and have not come into the border of Moab, for Arnon `is' the border of Moab.

^{19 Ref} `And Israel sendeth messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and Israel saith to him, Let us pass over, we pray thee, through thy land, unto my place,

^{20 Ref} and Sihon hath not trusted Israel to pass over through his border, and Sihon gathereth all his people, and they encamp in Jahaz, and fight with Israel;

²¹ and Jehovah, God of Israel, giveth Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smite them, and Israel possesseth all the land of the Amorite, the inhabitant of that land,

^{22 Ref} and they possess all the border of the Amorite from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and from the wilderness, and unto the Jordan.

²³ `And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorite from the presence of His people Israel, and thou wouldst possess it!

^{24 Ref} That which Chemosh thy god causeth thee to possess -- dost thou not possess it? and all that which Jehovah our God hath dispossessed from our presence, -- it we do possess.

^{25 Ref} `And now, `art' thou at all better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he at all strive with Israel? did he at all fight against them?

^{26 Ref} In Israel's dwelling in Heshbon and in its towns, and in Aroer and in its towns, and in all the cities which `are' by the sides of Arnon three hundred years -- and wherefore have ye not delivered them in that time?

^{27 Ref} And I -- I have not sinned against thee, and thou art doing with me evil -- to fight against me. Jehovah, the Judge, doth judge to-day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.'

^{28 Ref} And the king of the Bene-Ammon hath not hearkened unto the words of Jephthah which he sent unto him,

^{29 Ref} and the Spirit of Jehovah is on Jephthah, and he passeth over Gilead and Manasseh, and passeth over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he hath passed over to the Bene-Ammon.

^{30 Ref} And Jephthah voweth a vow to Jehovah, and saith, `If Thou dost at all give the Bene-Ammon into my hand --

^{31 Ref} then it hath been, that which at all cometh out from the doors of my house to meet me in my turning back in peace from the Bene-Ammon -- it hath been to Jehovah, or I have offered up for it -- a burnt-offering.'

^{32 Ref} And Jephthah passeth over unto the Bene-Ammon to fight against them, and Jehovah giveth them into his hand,

^{33 Ref} and he smiteth them from Aroer, and unto thy going in to Minnith, twenty cities, and unto the meadow of the vineyards -- a very great smiting; and the Bene-Ammon are humbled at the presence of the sons of Israel.

^{34 Ref} And Jephthah cometh into Mizpeh, unto his house, and lo, his daughter is coming out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses, and save her alone, he hath none, son or daughter.

^{35 Ref} And it cometh to pass, when he seeth her, that he rendeth his garments, and saith, `Alas, my daughter, thou hast caused me greatly to bend, and thou hast been among those troubling me; and I -- I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah, and I am not able to turn back.'

^{36 Ref} And she saith unto him, `My father -- thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah, do to me as it hath gone out from thy mouth, after that Jehovah hath done for thee vengeance on thine enemies, on the Bene-Ammon.'

^{37 Ref} And she saith unto her father, `Let this thing be done to me; desist from me two months, and I go on, and have gone down on the hills, and I weep for my virginity -- I and my friends.'

³⁸ And he saith, `Go;' and he sendeth her away two months, and she goeth, she and her friends, and she weepeth for her virginity on the hills;

^{39 Ref} and it cometh to pass at the end of two months that she turneth back unto her father, and he doth to her his vow which he hath vowed, and she knew not a man; and it is a statute in Israel:

^{40 Ref} from time to time the daughters of Israel go to talk to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.

^{1 Ref} Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a great man of war; he was the son of a loose woman, and Gilead was his father.

^{2 Ref} And Gilead's wife gave birth to sons, and when her sons became men, they sent Jephthah away, saying, You have no part in the heritage of our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.

^{3 Ref} So Jephthah went in flight from his brothers and was living in the land of Tob, where a number of good-for-nothing men, joining Jephthah, went out with him on his undertakings.

^{4 Ref} Now after a time the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

^{5 Ref} And when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the responsible men of Gilead went to get Jephthah back from the land of Tob;

⁶ And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief so that we may make war against the children of Ammon.

^{7 Ref} But Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, Did you not, in your hate for me, send me away from my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?

^{8 Ref} And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is the reason we have come back to you; so go with us and make war against the children of Ammon, and we will make you our head over all the people of Gilead.

^{9 Ref} Then Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, If you take me back to make war against the children of Ammon, and if with the help of the Lord I overcome them, will you make me your head?

^{10 Ref} And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, May the Lord be our witness: we will certainly do as you say.

^{11 Ref} So Jephthah went with the responsible men of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah said all these things before the Lord in Mizpah.

^{12 Ref} Then Jephthah sent men to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you against me that you have come to make war against my land?

^{13 Ref} And the king of the children of Ammon said to the men sent by Jephthah, Because Israel, when he came up out of Egypt, took away my land, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and as far as Jordan: so now, give me back those lands quietly.

^{14 Ref} And Jephthah sent again to the king of the children of Ammon,

^{15 Ref} And said to him, This is the word of Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon;

^{16 Ref} But when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the waste land to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh;

^{17 Ref} Then Israel sent men to the king of Edom saying, Let me now go through your land; but the king of Edom did not give ear to them. And in the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not; so Israel went on living in Kadesh.

^{18 Ref} Then he went on through the waste land and round the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon; they did not come inside the limit of Moab, for the Arnon was the limit of Moab.

^{19 Ref} And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let me now go through your land to my place.

^{20 Ref} But Sihon would not give way and let Israel go through his land; and Sihon got together all his people, and put his army in position in Jahaz, and made war on Israel.

²¹ And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, and they overcame them; so all the land of the Amorites, the people of that land, became Israel's.

^{22 Ref} All the limit of the Amorites was theirs, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and from the waste land even to Jordan.

²³ So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has taken away their land from the Amorites and given it to his people Israel; are you then to have it?

^{24 Ref} Do you not keep the lands of those whom Chemosh your god sends out from before you? So we will keep all the lands of those whom the Lord our God sends out from before us.

^{25 Ref} What! are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever take up a cause against Israel or make war against them?

^{26 Ref} While Israel was living in Heshbon and its daughter-towns and in Aroer and its daughter-towns and in all the towns which are by the side of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not get them back at that time?

^{27 Ref} So I have done no wrong against you, but you are doing wrong to me in fighting against me: may the Lord, who is Judge this day, be judge between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

^{28 Ref} The king of the children of Ammon, however, did not give ear to the words which Jephthah sent to him.

^{29 Ref} Then the spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, and he went through Gilead and Manasseh, and came to Mizpeh of Gilead; and from Mizpeh of Gilead he went over to the children of Ammon.

^{30 Ref} And Jephthah took an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give the children of Ammon into my hands,

^{31 Ref} Then whoever comes out from the door of my house, meeting me when I come back in peace from the children of Ammon, will be the Lord's and I will give him as a burned offering.

^{32 Ref} So Jephthah went over to the children of Ammon to make war on them; and the Lord gave them into his hands.

^{33 Ref} And he made an attack on them from Aroer all the way to Minnith, overrunning twenty towns, as far as Abel-cheramim, and put great numbers to the sword. So the children of Ammon were crushed before the children of Israel.

^{34 Ref} Then Jephthah came back to his house in Mizpah, and his daughter came out, meeting him on his way with music and with dances; she was his only child; he had no other sons or daughters.

^{35 Ref} And when he saw her he was overcome with grief, and said, Ah! my daughter! I am crushed with sorrow, and it is you who are the chief cause of my trouble; for I have made an oath to the Lord and I may not take it back.

^{36 Ref} And she said to him, My father, you have made an oath to the Lord; do then to me whatever you have said; for the Lord has sent a full reward on your haters, on the children of Ammon.

^{37 Ref} Then she said to her father, Only do this for me: let me have two months to go away into the mountains with my friends, weeping for my sad fate.

³⁸ And he said, Go then. So he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends to the mountains, weeping for her sad fate.

^{39 Ref} And at the end of two months she went back to her father, who did with her as he had said in his oath: and she had never been touched by a man. So it became a rule in Israel,

^{40 Ref} For the women to go year by year sorrowing for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in every year.