Judges 11

Judges Chapter 11 KJV

1Jephthah, the son of Gilead by a strange woman, is thrust out from home by his brethren. 4At the breaking out of the war the elders of Gilead appeal to him to command them, and covenant to make him their head. 12His embassy to the king of Ammon, which proveth fruitless. 29His vow. 32He overcometh the Ammonites. 34His daughter cometh to meet him, with whom he doeth according to his vow.
1 Now 1Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of aan harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they 1thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son 2of a strange woman.
3 Then Jephthah fled afrom his brethren, and dwelt in the 1land of Tob: and there were gathered 2vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
4 ¶ And it came to pass ain process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 And it was so, 1that 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, 1Did 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 1turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be 2our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, 1If 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 awitness between us, if 1we do not so according to thy words.
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him 1head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all 2his words before the Lord in 3Mizpeh.
12 ¶ And Jephthah 1sent 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, 1Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from 2Arnon even unto 3Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.
14 And Jephthah sent 1messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:
15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, 1Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
16 But when Israel 1came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
17 Then 1Israel 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 2Israel abode in Kadesh.
18 Then 1they 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, 2and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
19 And 1Israel 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 1Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
21 And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they 1smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
22 And they possessed 1all 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 1Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So 2whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.
25 And 1now 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 1Heshbon and her towns, and in 2Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, 3three 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 1Lord the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
28 Howbeit 1the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
29 ¶ Then 1the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over 2Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah 1vowed 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, athat whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, 1shall surely be the Lord's, band 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 1Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the aplain 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 1Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, 2his daughter came out to meet him 3with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her ahe had neither son nor daughter.
35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent 1his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: 2for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and 3I 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 ago up and down upon the mountains, and 1bewail 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 1did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a acustom in Israel,
40 that the daughters of Israel went ayearly bto lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
Judges 11