Judges 11:1-9 ▼

1 And Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. And he was son of a woman, a prostitute. And Gilead begat Jephthah.

2 And the wife of Gilead bore to him sons, and the sons of his wife grew up, and they drove out Jephthah and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in the house of our father; for you are the son of another woman.”

3 And Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob. And worthless men gathered themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.

4 And it came to pass after some days, that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel.

5 And it came to pass, when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob;

6 and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.”

7 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did not you? hate me and expel me from the house of my father? Why have you? come to me now when there is distress to you??”

8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Therefore now we have turned again to you, that you may go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon, and be our leader over all those dwelling in Gilead.”

9 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you? take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon, and YHWH delivers them to me, will I be to you? leader?”