Top of Page
Page Style
Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah, 2 however Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. When his wife’s sons had grown up, they drove Jephthah out. They told him, “You will not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. There some lawless men joined up with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.
4 Some time later the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites attacked Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.”
7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?”
8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we are turning to you now. Come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will become the leader of all of the people of Gilead.”
9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Suppose you bring me back home again to fight the Ammonites and the Lord delivers them over to me, will I really be made your leader?”
10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord be witness between us; we will certainly do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him leader and commander over them. Jephthah also repeated all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, asking, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against me in my land?”
13 The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan. Now restore those lands again peaceably.”
14 But Jephthah again send messengers to the king of the Ammonites, 15 and they said to him, “This is what Jephthah says:
‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. 16 When Israel came up from Egypt, they travelled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Then Israel send messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. And in like manner they asked the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.
18 ‘Then they travelled through the wilderness, and skirted around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and arrived at the east side of the land of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
19 ‘Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our country.” 20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through their territory. So Sihon gathered all His people together, camped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
21 ‘Then the Lord, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 They occupied all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23 ‘Since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it then? 24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, we will possess. 25 And now, are you better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel, or did he ever fight against them?
26 ‘While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are along the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? 27 So I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites’.”
28 But the king of the Ammonites did not take notice of the message that Jephthah sent him.
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He travelled through Gilead and Mannasseh, and then through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made this vow to the Lord: “If you will deliver the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet meℝ when I return in peace from the Ammonites will belong to the Lord, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32 So Jephthah passed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. 33 He struck them with a great slaughter from Aroer to Minnith and all the way to Abel-keramim—twenty cities. So the Ammonites were subdued before the sons of Israel.
34 When Jepthah returned to his house in Mizpah, there was his daughter, and she came out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing! She was his only child; apart from her he had no other sons or daughters. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and cried out, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought devastation and misery to me, for I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it.”
36 So she said to him, “My father, since you have given your word to the Lord, do to me as you have promised. For the Lord has given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 Then she said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: let me go with my companions and wander through the mountains for two months, and weep because of my virginity.”
38 “Go,” he replied, and he sent her away for two months. So she went away with her companions, and she wept on the mountains because she of her virginity. 39 At the end of two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She remained a virgin, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that for four days every year the daughters of Israel would lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.