Judges 11:1-21 ▼

1 And Jephthae the Galaadite was a mighty man; and he was the son of a harlot, who bore Jephthae to Galaad.

2 And the wife of Galaad bore him sons; and the sons of his wife grew up, and they cast out Jephthae, and said to him, Thou shalt not inherit in the house of our father, for thou art the son of a concubine.

3 And Jephthae fled from the face of his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and vain men gathered to Jephthae, and went out with him.

4 And it came to pass when the children of Ammon prepared to fight with Israel,

5 that the elders of Galaad went to fetch Jephthae from the land of Tob.

6 And they said to Jephthae, Come, and be our head, and we will fight with the sons of Ammon.

7 And Jephthae said to the elders of Galaad, Did ye not hate me, and cast me out of my father's house, and banish me from you? and wherefore are ye come to me now when ye want me?

8 And the elders of Galaad said to Jephthae, Therefore have we now turned to thee, that thou shouldest go with us, and fight against the sons of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Galaad.

9 And Jephthae said to the elders of Galaad, If ye turn me back to fight with the children of Ammon, and the Lord should deliver them before me, then will I be your head.

10 And the elders of Galaad said to Jephthae, The Lord be witness between us, if we shall not do according to thy word.

11 And Jephthae went with the elders of Galaad, and the people made him head and ruler over them: and Jephthae spoke all his words before the Lord in Massepha.

12 And Jephthae sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have I to do with thee, that thou hast come against me to fight in my land?

13 And the king of the children of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthae, Because Israel took my land when he went up out of Egypt, from Arnon to Jaboc, and to Jordan: now then return them peaceably and I will depart.

14 And Jephthae again sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon,

15 and said to him, Thus says Jephthae, Israel took not the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon;

16 for in their going up out of Egypt Israel went in the wilderness as far as the sea of Siph, and came to Cades.

17 And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, I will pass, if it please thee, by thy land: and the king of Edom complied not: and Israel also sent to the king of Moab, and he did not consent; and Israel sojourned in Cades.

18 And they journeyed in the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab: and they came by the east of the land of Moab, an encamped in the country beyond Arnon, and came not within the borders of Moab, for Arnon is the border of Moab.

19 And Israel sent messengers to Seon king of the Amorite, king of Esbon, and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray thee, by thy land to our place.

20 And Seon did not trust Israel to pass by his coast; and Seon gathered all his people, and they encamped at Jasa; and he set the battle in array against Israel.

21 And the Lord God of Israel delivered Seon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote him; and Israel inherited all the land of the Amorite who dwelt in that land,