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.