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Judges 11 |
1 |
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he
was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. |
2 |
And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up,
and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not
inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange
woman. |
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. |
4 |
And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of
Ammon made war against Israel. |
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: |
6 |
And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that
we may fight with the children of Ammon. |
7 |
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate
me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come
unto me now when ye are in distress? |
8 |
And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we
turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight
against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the
inhabitants of Gilead. |
9 |
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me
home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD
deliver them before me, shall I be your head? |
10 |
And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be
witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words. |
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. |
12 |
And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of
Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come
against me to fight in my land? |
13 |
And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the
messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when
they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto
Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably. |
14 |
And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the
children of Ammon: |
15 |
And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away
the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: |
16 |
But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the
wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; |
17 |
Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying,
Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom
would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the
king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in
Kadesh. |
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. |
19 |
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites,
the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we
pray thee, through thy land into my place. |
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. |
21 |
And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people
into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed
all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that
country. |
22 |
And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon
even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan. |
23 |
So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites
from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess
it? |
24 |
Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee
to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from
before us, them will we possess. |
25 |
And now art thou 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, |
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 ye not recover them
within that time? |
27 |
Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me
wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day
between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. |
28 |
Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto
the words of Jephthah which he sent him. |
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. |
30 |
And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou
shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine
hands, |
31 |
Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh 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. |
32 |
So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight
against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. |
33 |
And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith,
even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a
very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued
before the children of Israel. |
34 |
And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto 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. |
35 |
And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his
clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very
low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened
my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back. |
36 |
And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy
mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath
proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken
vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of
Ammon. |
37 |
And she said unto 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. |
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. |
39 |
And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she
returned unto 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, |
40 |
That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the
daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. |