Livro dos Juízes 11

SAGRADA BIBLIA	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Jefté, o galaadita, era. um valente guerreiro, filho de Galaad e duma meretriz.	1 At that time, there was a Gileadite, Jephthah, a very strong man and a fighter, the son of a kept woman, and he was born of Gilead.
2 A mulher de Galaad deu-lhe filhos, e estes, tendo crescido, expulsaram Jefté, dizendo: Tu não herdarás nada na casa de nosso pai, porque és um bastardo.	2 Now Gilead had a wife, from whom he received sons. And they, after growing up, cast out Jephthah, saying, “You cannot inherit in the house of our father, because you were born of another mother.”
3 Jefté afastou-se de seus irmãos e fixou-se na terra de Tob. Alguns homens miseráveis reuniram-se a ele e tomaram parte em suas incursões.	3 And so, fleeing and avoiding them, he lived in the land of Tob. And men who were indigent and robbers joined with him, and they followed him as their leader.
4 Algum tempo depois, os amonitas entraram em luta contra Israel.	4 In those days, the sons of Ammon fought against Israel.
5 Os habitantes de Galaad, vendo-se assim atacados, foram em busca de Jefté na terra de Tob	5 And being steadfastly attacked, the elders of Gilead traveled so that they might obtain for their assistance Jephthah, from the land of Tob.
6 e disseram-lhe: Vem: serás o nosso chefe, e combateremos os amonitas.	6 And they said to him, “Come and be our leader, and fight against the sons of Ammon.”
7 Jefté, porém, respondeu: Vós, que sois meus inimigos, tendo-me expulsado da casa de meu pai, por que vindes a mim agora que estais em aperto?	7 But he answered them: “Are you not the ones who hated me, and who cast me out of my father’s house? And yet now you come to me, compelled by necessity?”
8 Os anciãos de Galaad disseram-lhe: Foi {precisamente} por isso que viemos agora ter contigo, para que venhas conosco e combatas contra os filhos de Amon, e sejas o nosso chefe, o chefe de todo o povo de Galaad.	8 And the leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “But it is due to this necessity that we have approached you now, so that you may set out with us, and fight against the sons of Ammon, and be commander over all who live in Gilead.”
9 Jefté disse-lhes: Se vós me conduzirdes para lutar contra os amonitas, e o Senhor mos entregar nas mãos, serei o vosso chefe.	9 Jephthah also said to them: “If you have come to me so that I may fight for you against the sons of Ammon, and if the Lord will deliver them into my hands, will I truly be your leader?”
10 Os anciãos responderam-lhe: O Senhor seja testemunha entre nós de que faremos tudo o que disseste!	10 They answered him, “The Lord who hears these things is himself the Mediator and the Witness that we shall do what we have promised.”
11 E Jefté partiu com os anciãos de Galaad. O povo proclamou-o seu chefe e general, e Jefté repetiu diante do Senhor, em Masfa, tudo o que acabara de dizer.	11 And so Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead, and all the people made him their leader. And Jephthah spoke all his words, in the sight of the Lord, at Mizpah.
12 Jefté enviou mensageiros ao rei dos amonitas para lhe dizer: Que tens tu contra mim para que me venhas combater em minha terra?	12 And he sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, who said on his behalf, “What is there between you and me, that you would approach against me, so that you might lay waste to my land?”
13 O rei respondeu-lhes: Israel, vindo do Egito, tomou a minha terra desde o Arnon até Jaboc e até o Jordão. Devolve-mo agora, pois, pacificamente.	13 And he responded to them, “It is because Israel took my land, when he ascended from Egypt, from the parts of Arnon, as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan. Now therefore, restore these to me with peace.”
14 Jefté mandou nova embaixada ao rei dos amonitas,	14 And Jephthah again commissioned them, and he ordered them to say to the king of Ammon:
15 dizendo-lhe: Assim fala Jefté: Israel não se apoderou nem do território de Moab, nem da terra dos filhos de Amon.	15 “Jephthah says this: Israel did not take the land of Moab, nor the land of the sons of Ammon.
16 Quando saiu do Egito, Israel marchou pelo deserto até o mar Vermelho, e chegou a Cades.	16 But when they ascended together from Egypt, he walked through the desert as far as the Red Sea, and he went into Kadesh.
17 Mandou então mensageiros ao rei de Edom, pedindo-lhe a permissão de passar pela sua terra; mas o rei de Edom não o consentiu. Fez o mesmo pedido ao rei de Moab, que tampouco lhe deu passagem. Israel deteve-se, pois, em Cades.	17 And he sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Permit me to pass through your land.’ But he was not willing to agree to his petition. Likewise, he sent to the king of Moab, who also refused to offer him passage. And so he delayed in Kadesh,
18 Retomou em seguida sua marcha pelo deserto, e contornou as terras de Edom e de Moab; chegando à parte oriental da terra de Moab, acampou na outra banda do Arnon, sem contudo penetrar na terra de Moab, cuja fronteira é o Arnon.	18 and he circled around the side of the land of Edom and the land of Moab. And he arrived opposite the eastern region of the land of Moab. And he made camp across the Arnon. But he was not willing to enter the borders of Moab. (Of course, Arnon is the border of the land of Moab.)
19 Dali, Israel mandou ainda mensageiros a Seon, rei dos amorreus, em Hesebon pedindo-lhe que os deixasse passar pela sua terra, para que chegassem à deles.	19 And so Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who was living at Heshbon. And they said to him, “Permit me to cross through your land as far as the river.”
20 Seon, porém, não teve bastante confiança em Israel para deixá-lo atravessar o seu território; antes, ajuntando todas as suas tropas, acampou em Jasa, e atacou Israel.	20 But he, too, despising the words of Israel, would not permit him to cross through his borders. Instead, gathering an innumerable multitude, he went out against him at Jahaz, and he resisted strongly.
21 O Senhor, Deus de Israel, entregou-o com todo o seu povo nas mãos de Israel, que o derrotou, e conquistou todas as terras dos amorreus que habitavam naquela região;	21 But the Lord delivered him, with his entire army, into the hands of Israel. And he struck him down, and he possessed all the land of the Amorite, the inhabitant of that region,
22 tomou toda a terra dos amorreus, desde o Arnon até Jaboc, e desde o deserto até o Jordão.	22 with all its parts, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan.
23 Agora que o Senhor, Deus de Israel, expulsou os amorreus diante de seu povo de Israel, tu pretendes possuir a sua terra?	23 Therefore, it was the Lord, the God of Israel, who overthrew the Amorites, by means of his people Israel fighting against them. And now you wish to possess his land?
24 Porventura não tens a posse do que te deu a conquistar o teu deus Camos? E nós, por que não possuiríamos tudo aquilo que o Senhor, nosso Deus, expulsou diante de nós?	24 Are not the things that your god Chemosh possesses owed to you by right? And so, what the Lord our God has obtained by victory falls to us as a possession.
25 Serias tu melhor do que Balac, filho de Sefor, rei de Moab? Porventura disputou ele com os israelitas, ou combateu contra eles?	25 Or are you, perhaps, better than Balak, the son of Zippor, the king of Moab? Or are you able to explain what his argument was against Israel, and why he fought against him?
26 Eis já trezentos anos que Israel habita em Hesebon e em suas aldeias, em Aroer e em suas aldeias, e em todas as cidades banhadas pelo Arnon. Por que não lhe tiraste estas terras durante todo esse tempo?	26 And though he has lived in Heshbon, and its villages, and in Aroer, and its villages, and in all the cities near the Jordan for three hundred years, why have you, for such long a time, put forward nothing about this claim?
27 Não sou eu, pois, que te faço dano, mas és tu mesmo que te prejudicas, declarando-me guerra. Que o Senhor, o Juiz, se pronuncie hoje entre os israelitas e os amonitas!	27 Therefore, I am not sinning against you, but you are doing evil against me, by declaring an unjust war against me. May the Lord be the Judge and the Arbiter this day, between Israel and the sons of Ammon.”
28 Mas o rei dos amonitas não quis ouvir nada do que Jefté lhe mandara dizer.	28 But the king of the sons of Ammon was not willing to agree to the words of Jephthah that he commissioned by the messengers.
29 O Espírito do Senhor desceu sobre Jefté, e ele, atravessando Galaad e Manassés, passou dali até Masfa de Galaad, de onde marchou contra os amonitas.	29 Therefore, the Spirit of the Lord rested upon Jephthah, and circling around Gilead, and Manasseh, and also Mizpah of Gilead, and crossing from there to the sons of Ammon,
30 Jetfé fez ao Senhor este voto:	30 he made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you will deliver the sons of Ammon into my hands,
31 Se me entregardes nas mãos os amonitas, aquele que sair das portas de minha casa ao meu encontro, quando eu voltar vitorioso dos filhos de Amon, será consagrado ao Senhor, e eu o oferecerei em holocausto.	31 whoever will be the first to depart from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, the same will I offer as a holocaust to the Lord.”
32 Jefté marchou contra os amonitas, e o Senhor lhos entregou.	32 And Jephthah crossed to the sons of Ammon, so that he might fight against them. And the Lord delivered them into his hands.
33 Ele os derrotou desde Aroer até as proximidades de Menit, e até Abel-Queramim, tomando-lhes vinte aldeias. E os amonitas, com este terrível golpe, foram humilhados perante Israel.	33 And he struck them down from Aroer, as far as the entrance to Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel, which is covered with vineyards, in an exceedingly great slaughter. And the sons of Ammon were humbled by the sons of Israel.
34 Ora, voltando Jefté para a sua casa em Masfa, eis que sua filha saiu-lhe ao encontro com tamborins e danças. Era a sua única filha, porque, afora ela, não tinha filho nem filha.	34 But when Jephthah returned to Mizpah, to his own house, his only daughter met him with timbrels and dances. For he had no other children.
35 Quando a viu, rasgou as suas vestes: Ah, minha filha, exclamou ele, tu me acabrunhas de dor, e estás no número daqueles que causam a minha infelicidade! Fiz ao Senhor um voto que não posso revogar.	35 And upon seeing her, he tore his garments, and he said: “Alas, my daughter! You have cheated me, and you yourself have been cheated. For I opened my mouth to the Lord, and I can do nothing else.”
36 Meu pai, disse ela, se fizeste um voto ao Senhor, trata-me segundo o que prometeste, agora que o Senhor te vingou de teus inimigos, os amonitas.	36 And she answered him, “My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me whatever you have promised, since victory has been granted to you, as well as vengeance against your enemies.”
37 E ajuntou: Concede-me somente isto: Deixa-me que vá sobre as colinas durante dois meses, para chorar a minha virgindade com as minhas amigas.	37 And she said to her father: “Grant to me this one thing, which I request. Permit me, that I may wander the hillsides for two months, and that I may mourn my virginity with my companions.”
38 Vai, disse-lhe ele. E deu-lhe dois meses de liberdade. Ela foi com as suas companheiras, e chorou a sua virgindade sobre as colinas.	38 And he answered her, “Go.” And he released her for two months. And when she had departed with her friends and companions, she wept over her virginity in the hillsides.
39 Passado o prazo, voltou para seu pai, e ele cumpriu o voto que tinha feito. Ela não tinha conhecido varão.	39 And when the two months expired, she returned to her father, and he did to her just as he had vowed, though she knew no man. From this, the custom grew up in Israel, and the practice has been preserved,
40 Daqui veio este costume, em Israel, que todos os anos as jovens israelitas reúnem-se para chorar durante quatro dias a filha de Jefté, o galaadita.	40 such that, after each year passes, the daughters of Israel convene as one, and they lament the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, for four days.