Jephthah Delivers Israel

1And Jephthah the Gileadite was a man of strength, and he the son of a woman, a harlot And Gilead will beget Jephthah. 2And Gilead's wife will bring forth sons to him, and his wife's sons will grow, and they will drive out Jephthah, and they will say to him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house, for thou the son of another woman. 3And Jephthah will flee from the face of his brethren and will dwell in the land of Tob: and empty men will gather together to Jephthah and will go forth with him.

4And it will be from days and the sons of Ammon will war with Israel. 5And it will be when the sons of Ammon warred with Israel, and the old men of Israel will go to take Jephthah out of the land of Tob. 6And they will say to Jephthah, Come and be to us for leader, and we will war against the sons of Ammon. 7And Jephthah will say to the old men of Gilead, Did ye not hate me, and ye will drive me out from my father's house? and why came ye to me now when there is distress to you? 8And the old men of Gilead will say to Jephthah, Therefore now we turned back to thee, and come thou with us and we will war against the sons of Ammon, and be to us for head to all dwelling in Gilead. 9And Jephthah will say to the old men of Gilead, If ye turn me back to war against the sons of Ammon, and Jehovah gave them before me, shall I be to you for head? 10And the old men of Gilead will say to Jephthah, Jehovah shall be hearing between us, if we did not thus to thee according to thy word. 11And Jephthah will go with the old men of Gilead, and the people will set him over them for head and for chief: and Jephthah will speak all his words before Jehovah in Mizpeh.

12And Jephthah will send messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, What to me and to thee that thou camest to me to war in my land. 13And the king of the sons of Ammon will say to the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took my land in his coming up out of Egypt, from Arnon even to Jabbok, and even to Jordan: and now turn them back in peace. 14And Jephthah will add yet and will send messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon: 15And he will say to him, Thus said Jephthah, Israel took not the land of Moab and the land of the sons of Ammon: 16When in their coming up out of Egypt, and Israel went in the desert, even to the sea of sedge, and he will come to Kadesh; 17And Israel will send messengers to the king of Edom, saying, I will pass through now in thy land: and the king of Edom heard not And also to the king of Moab he sent; and he was not willing. And Israel dwelt in Kadesh. 18And he will go into the wilderness, and he will encompass the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and he will come from the rising of the sun to the land of Moab, and they will encamp beyond Arnon; and they went not in to the bound of Moab, for Arnon is the bound of Moah 19And Israel will send messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel will say to him, We will pass now through in thy land, even to my place. 20And Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through in his bound; and Sihon will gather together all his people and will encamp in Jahaz, and he will war with Israel. 21And Jehovah the God of Israel will give Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they will smite them: and Israel will inherit all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land. 22And they will inherit all the bound of the Amorites from Arnon and even to Jabbok, and from the desert and even to Jordan. 23And now Jehovah the God of Israel drove out the Amorites from the face of his people Israel, and shalt thou inherit it? 24Shalt thou not inherit what Chemosh thy god will give thee to inherit? and all which Jehovah our God drove out from our face, we will inherit it. 25And now being good, art thou good above Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab? striving, did he contend with Israel, or warring, did he war against them. 26In Israel's dwelling in Heshbon and her daughters and in Aroer and her daughters, and in all the cities which are upon the hands of Arnon, three hundred years? and why took ye not them away in that time? 27And I sinned not against thee, and thou didst me evil to war against me: Jehovah the Judge will judge this day between the sons of Israel and between the sons of Ammon. 28And the king of the sons of Ammon heard not to the words of Jephthah which he sent to him.

Jephthah’s Tragic Vow

29And the spirit of Jehovah will be upon Jephthah, and he will pass through Gilead and Manasseh, and he will pass through Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the sons of Ammon. 30And Jephthah will vow a vow to Jehovah, and he will say, If giving, thou wilt give the sons of Ammon into my hand, 31And it was, that coming forth which shall come forth from the doors of my house to my meeting in my turning back in peace from the sons of Ammon, and it was to Jehovah; and I brought it up a burnt-offering. 32And Jephthah will pass over to the sons of Ammon to war against them: and Jehovah will give them into his hand. 33And he will strike them from Aroer even to thy going to Minnith, twenty cities, and even to the meadow of the vineyards, with a very great smiting. And the sons of Ammon will be subdued from the face of the sons of Israel.

34And Jephthah will come to Mizpeh to his house, and behold, his daughter will come forth to his meeting with drums and with lutes: and she the only begotten; not to him beside her, son nor daughter. 35And it will be when he saw her, and he will tear his garments, and will say, Alas, my daughter bowing down, thou didst bow me down, and thou art in my trouble: and I opened my mouth to Jehovah, and I shall not be able to turn back. 36And she will say to him, My father, opening thy mouth to Jehovah, do to me according to what came forth from thy mouth, after that Jehovah did for thee vengeance of thine enemies, of the sons of Ammon. 37And she will say to her father, This word shall be done to me: desist from me two months, and I will go, and go down upon the mountains, and I will lament over my virginity, I and my friends. 38And he will say, Go. And he will send her away two months: and she will go and her friends, and she will lament over her virginity upon the mountains. 39And it will be from the end of two months, and she will turn back to her father and he will do to her his vow which he vowed: and she knew not man. And it will be a law in Israel, 40From days of days the daughters of Israel will go to celebrate to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in the year.