Judges 11

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior. He was a prostitute's son. Gilead was Jephthah's father,	1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
2 but Gilead's wife also bore him sons, and the sons of this wife, when they grew up, drove Jephthahaway, saying, 'No share of the paternal heritage for you, since you are a son of another woman.'	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 Jephthah fled far from his brothers and settled in the territory of Tob. Jephthah enlisted a group ofadventurers who used to go raiding with him.	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 It was some time after this that the Ammonites made war on Israel.	4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 And when the Ammonites had attacked Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah from theterritory of Tob.	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 'Come', they said, 'and be our commander, so that we can fight the Ammonites.'	6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
7 Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, 'Didn't you hate me and drive me out of my father's house?Why come to me now, when you are in trouble?'	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 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, 'That is why we are turning to you now. Come with us; fight theAmmonites and be our chief, chief of al the people living in Gilead.'	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 Jephthah then said to the elders of Gilead, 'If you bring me home to fight the Ammonites and Yahwehdefeats them for me, I am to be your chief?'	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 then said to Jephthah, 'Yahweh be witness between us, if we do not do asyou have said!'	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 So Jephthah set off with the elders of Gilead. The people put him at their head as chief andcommander; and Jephthah repeated al his conditions at Mizpah in Yahweh's presence.	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 Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to say to him, 'What do you have against us,for you to come and make war on my country?'	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 The king of the Ammonites replied to Jephthah's messengers, 'The reason is that when Israel cameup from Egypt, they seized my country from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; so now restore it to mepeaceful y.'	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 Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of the Ammonites	14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:
15 with this answer, 'Jephthah says this, "Israel seized neither the country of Moab nor the country of theAmmonites.	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 When Israel came out of Egypt, they marched through the desert as far as the Sea of Reeds and,having reached Kadesh,	16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
17 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom to say: Please let me pass through your country, butthe king of Edom would not listen. They sent similarly to the king of Moab, but he refused, and Israel remained atKadesh;	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 later, moving on through the desert and skirting the countries of Edom and Moab until arriving to theeast of Moabite territory, the people camped on the other side of the Arnon but did not enter Moabite territory,the Arnon being the Moabite frontier.	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 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, ruling in Heshbon. Israel's message was:Please let me pass through your country to my destination.	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 would not let Israel pass through his territory; he mustered his whole army; they encampedat Jahaz, and he then joined battle with Israel.	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 Yahweh, God of Israel, delivered Sihon and his whole army into the power of Israel, who defeatedthem; as the result of which, Israel took possession of the entire territory of the Amorites living in that region.	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 Israel took possession of all the Amorite territory from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert tothe Jordan.	22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
23 And now that Yahweh, God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites before his people Israel, do youthink you can dispossess us?	23 So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
24 Will you not keep as your possession whatever Chemosh, your god, has given you? And, just thesame, we shal keep as ours whatever Yahweh our God has given us, to inherit from those who were before us!	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 Are you a better man than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he pick a quarrel with Israel? Didhe make war on them?	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 When Israel settled in Heshbon and its dependencies, and in Aroer and its dependencies, or in any ofthe towns on the banks of the Arnon (three hundred years ago), why did you not recover them then?	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 I for my part have done you no harm, but you are wronging me by making war on me. Let Yahwehthe Judge give judgement today between the Israelites and the king of the Ammonites." '	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 But the king of the Ammonites took no notice of the message that Jephthah sent him.	28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
29 The spirit of Yahweh was on Jephthah, who crossed Gilead and Manasseh, crossed by way ofMizpah in Gilead, and from Mizpah in Gilead crossed into Ammonite territory.	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 made a vow to Yahweh, 'If you deliver the Ammonites into my grasp,	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 the first thing to come out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from fightingthe Ammonites shal belong to Yahweh, and I shal sacrifice it as a burnt offering.'	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 Jephthah crossed into Ammonite territory to attack them, and Yahweh delivered them into his grasp.	32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
33 He beat them from Aroer to the border of Minnith (twenty towns) and to Abel-Keramim. It was a verysevere defeat, and the Ammonites were humbled by the Israelites.	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 As Jephthah returned to his house at Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, dancing to thesound of tambourines. She was his only child; apart from her, he had neither son nor daughter.	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 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and exclaimed, 'Oh my daughter, what misery you havebrought upon me! You have joined those who bring misery into my life! I have made a promise before Yahwehwhich I cannot retract.'	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 She replied, 'Father, you have made a promise to Yahweh; treat me as the promise that you havemade requires, since Yahweh has granted you vengeance on your enemies the Ammonites.'	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 She then said to her father, 'Grant me this! Let me be free for two months. I shal go and wander inthe mountains, and with my companions bewail my virginity.'	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 He replied, 'Go,' and let her go away for two months. So she went away with her companions andbewailed her virginity in the mountains.	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 When the two months were over she went back to her father, and he treated her as the vow that hehad uttered bound him. She had remained a virgin. And hence, the custom in Israel	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 for the daughters of Israel to leave home year by year and lament over the daughter of Jephthah theGileadite for four days every year.	40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.