Iudicum 11

VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Fuit illo tempore Jephte Galaadites vir fortissimus atque pugnator, filius mulieris meretricis, qui natus est de Galaad.	1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior. He was a prostitute's son. Gilead was Jephthah's father,
2 Habuit autem Galaad uxorem, de qua suscepit filios : qui postquam creverant, ejecerunt Jephte, dicentes : Hæres in domo patris nostri esse non poteris, quia de altera matre natus es.	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.'
3 Quos ille fugiens atque devitans, habitavit in terra Tob : congregatique sunt ad eum viri inopes, et latrocinantes, et quasi principem sequebantur.	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.
4 In illis diebus pugnabant filii Ammon contra Israël.	4 It was some time after this that the Ammonites made war on Israel.
5 Quibus acriter instantibus perrexerunt majores natu de Galaad, ut tollerent in auxilium sui Jephte de terra Tob :	5 And when the Ammonites had attacked Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah from theterritory of Tob.
6 dixeruntque ad eum : Veni et esto princeps noster, et pugna contra filios Ammon.	6 'Come', they said, 'and be our commander, so that we can fight the Ammonites.'
7 Quibus ille respondit : Nonne vos estis, qui odistis me, et ejecistis de domo patris mei ? et nunc venistis ad me necessitate compulsi.	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?'
8 Dixeruntque principes Galaad ad Jephte : Ob hanc igitur causam nunc ad te venimus, ut proficiscaris nobiscum, et pugnes contra filios Ammon, sisque dux omnium qui habitant in Galaad.	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.'
9 Jephte quoque dixit eis : Si vere venistis ad me, ut pugnem pro vobis contra filios Ammon, tradideritque eos Dominus in manus meas, ego ero vester princeps ?	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?'
10 Qui responderunt ei : Dominus, qui hæc audit, ipse mediator ac testis est quod nostra promissa faciemus.	10 And the elders of Gilead then said to Jephthah, 'Yahweh be witness between us, if we do not do asyou have said!'
11 Abiit itaque Jephte cum principibus Galaad, fecitque eum omnis populus principem sui. Locutusque est Jephte omnes sermones suos coram Domino in Maspha.	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.
12 Et misit nuntios ad regem filiorum Ammon, qui ex persona sua dicerent : Quid mihi et tibi est, quia venisti contra me, ut vastares terram meam ?	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?'
13 Quibus ille respondit : Quia tulit Israël terram meam, quando ascendit de Ægypto, a finibus Arnon usque Jaboc atque Jordanem : nunc ergo cum pace redde mihi eam.	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.'
14 Per quos rursum mandavit Jephte, et imperavit eis ut dicerent regi Ammon :	14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of the Ammonites
15 Hæc dicit Jephte : Non tulit Israël terram Moab, nec terram filiorum Ammon :	15 with this answer, 'Jephthah says this, "Israel seized neither the country of Moab nor the country of theAmmonites.
16 sed quando de Ægypto conscenderunt, ambulavit per solitudinem usque ad mare Rubrum, et venit in Cades.	16 When Israel came out of Egypt, they marched through the desert as far as the Sea of Reeds and,having reached Kadesh,
17 Misitque nuntios ad regem Edom, dicens : Dimitte me ut transeam per terram tuam. Qui noluit acquiescere precibus ejus. Misit quoque ad regem Moab, qui et ipse transitum præbere contempsit. Mansit itaque in Cades,	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;
18 et circuivit ex latere terram Edom et terram Moab : venitque contra orientalem plagam terræ Moab, et castrametatus est trans Arnon : nec voluit intrare terminos Moab. (Arnon quippe confinium est terræ Moab.)	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.
19 Misit itaque Israël nuntios ad Sehon regem Amorrhæorum, qui habitabat in Hesebon, et dixerunt ei : Dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam usque ad fluvium.	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.
20 Qui et ipse Israël verba despiciens, non dimisit eum transire per terminos suos : sed infinita multitudine congregata, egressus est contra eum in Jasa, et fortiter resistebat.	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.
21 Tradiditque eum Dominus in manus Israël cum omni exercitu suo : qui percussit eum, et possedit omnem terram Amorrhæi habitatoris regionis illius,	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.
22 et universos fines ejus, de Arnon usque Jaboc, et de solitudine usque ad Jordanem.	22 Israel took possession of all the Amorite territory from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert tothe Jordan.
23 Dominus ergo Deus Israël subvertit Amorrhæum, pugnante contra illum populo suo Israël, et tu nunc vis possidere terram ejus ?	23 And now that Yahweh, God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites before his people Israel, do youthink you can dispossess us?
24 nonne ea quæ possidet Chamos deus tuus, tibi jure debentur ? quæ autem Dominus Deus noster victor obtinuit, in nostram cedent possessionem :	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!
25 nisi forte melior es Balac filio Sephor rege Moab ; aut docere potes, quod jurgatus sit contra Israël, et pugnaverit contra eum,	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?
26 quando habitavit in Hesebon et viculis ejus, et in Aroër et villis illius, vel in cunctis civitatibus juxta Jordanem, per trecentos annos. Quare tanto tempore nihil super hac repetitione tentastis ?	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?
27 Igitur non ego pecco in te, sed tu contra me male agis, indicens mihi bella non justa. Judicet Dominus arbiter hujus diei inter Israël, et inter filios Ammon.	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." '
28 Noluitque acquiescere rex filiorum Ammon verbis Jephte, quæ per nuntios mandaverat.	28 But the king of the Ammonites took no notice of the message that Jephthah sent him.
29 Factus est ergo super Jephte spiritus Domini, et circuiens Galaad et Manasse, Maspha quoque Galaad, et inde transiens ad filios Ammon,	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.
30 votum vovit Domino, dicens : Si tradideris filios Ammon in manus meas,	30 And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, 'If you deliver the Ammonites into my grasp,
31 quicumque primus fuerit egressus de foribus domus meæ, mihique occurrerit revertenti cum pace a filiis Ammon, eum holocaustum offeram Domino.	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.'
32 Transivitque Jephte ad filios Ammon, ut pugnaret contra eos : quos tradidit Dominus in manus ejus.	32 Jephthah crossed into Ammonite territory to attack them, and Yahweh delivered them into his grasp.
33 Percussitque ab Aroër usque dum venias in Mennith, viginti civitates, et usque ad Abel, quæ est vineis consita, plaga magna nimis : humiliatique sunt filii Ammon a filiis Israël.	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.
34 Revertente autem Jephte in Maspha domum suam, occurrit ei unigenita filia sua cum tympanis et choris : non enim habebat alios liberos.	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.
35 Qua visa, scidit vestimenta sua, et ait : Heu me, filia mea ! decepisti me, et ipsa decepta es : aperui enim os meum ad Dominum, et aliud facere non potero.	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.'
36 Cui illa respondit : Pater mi, si aperuisti os tuum ad Dominum, fac mihi quodcumque pollicitus es, concessa tibi ultione atque victoria de hostibus tuis.	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.'
37 Dixitque ad patrem : Hoc solum mihi præsta quod deprecor : dimitte me ut duobus mensibus circumeam montes, et plangam virginitatem meam cum sodalibus meis.	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.'
38 Cui ille respondit : Vade. Et dimisit eam duobus mensibus. Cumque abiisset cum sociis ac sodalibus suis, flebat virginitatem suam in montibus.	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.
39 Expletisque duobus mensibus, reversa est ad patrem suum, et fecit ei sicut voverat, quæ ignorabat virum. Exinde mos increbruit in Israël, et consuetudo servata est,	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
40 ut post anni circulum conveniant in unum filiæ Israël, et plangant filiam Jephte Galaaditæ diebus quatuor.	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.