11Jephthah the Gileadite was a great warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.H3316H1569H1368H2428H1121H802H2181H1568H3205H33162Gilead's wife bore him sons, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You will have no inheritance in our father's house, because you are the son of another woman."H1568H802H3205H1121H802H1121H1431H1644H3316H559H5157H1H1004H1121H312H8023So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Then some lawless men joined Jephthah and traveled with him.H3316H1272H6440H251H3427H776H2897H3950H7386H582H3316H33184Some time later, the Ammonites fought against Israel.H3117H1121H5983H3898H34785When the Ammonites made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.H1121H5983H3898H3478H2205H1568H3212H3947H3316H776H28976They said to him, "Come, be our commander, and let's fight against the Ammonites."H559H3316H3212H7101H3898H1121H59837Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why then have you come to me now when you're in trouble?"H3316H559H2205H1568H8130H1644H1H1004H935H68878They answered Jephthah, "Since that's true, we now turn to you. Come with us, fight the Ammonites, and you will become leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead."H2205H1568H559H3316H7725H1980H3898H1121H5983H7218H3427H15689So Jephthah said to them, "If you are bringing me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, I will be your leader."H3316H559H2205H1568H7725H3898H1121H5983H3068H5414H6440H721810The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD is our witness if we don't do as you say."H2205H1568H559H3316H3068H8085H6213H169711So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. The people put him over themselves as leader and commander, and Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.H3316H3212H2205H1568H5971H7760H7218H7101H3316H1696H1697H6440H3068H470912Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, "What do you have against me that you have come to fight against me in my land?"H3316H7971H4397H4428H1121H5983H559H935H3898H77613The king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah's messengers, "When Israel came from Egypt, they seized my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan. Now restore it peaceably."H4428H1121H5983H559H4397H3316H3478H3947H776H5927H4714H769H2999H3383H7725H796514Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the AmmonitesH3316H7971H4397H3254H4428H1121H598315to tell him, "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.H559H559H3316H3478H3947H776H4124H776H1121H598316But when they came from Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.H3478H5927H4714H3212H4057H5488H3220H935H694617Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let us travel through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent [messengers] to the king of Moab, but he refused. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.H3478H7971H4397H4428H123H559H5674H776H4428H123H8085H7971H4428H4124H14H3478H3427H694618"Then they traveled through the wilderness and around the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon but did not enter into the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.H3212H4057H5437H776H123H776H4124H935H4217H8121H776H4124H2583H5676H769H935H1366H4124H769H1366H412419"Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, 'Please let us travel through your land to our country,'H3478H7971H4397H5511H4428H567H4428H2809H3478H559H5674H776H5704H472520but Sihon did not trust Israel. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people, camped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel.H5511H539H3478H5674H1366H5511H622H5971H622H2583H3096H3898H347821Then the LORD God of Israel handed over Sihon and all his people to Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of the entire land of the Amorites who lived in that country.H3068H430H3478H5414H5511H5971H3027H3478H5221H3478H3423H776H567H3427H77622They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.H3423H1366H567H769H2999H4057H338323"The LORD God of Israel has now driven out the Amorites before His people Israel, but will you drive us out?H3068H430H3478H3423H567H6440H5971H3478H342324Isn't it true that you may possess whatever your god Chemosh drives out for you, and we may possess everything the LORD our God drives out before us?H3423H3645H430H3423H3068H430H3423H6440H342325Now are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?H2896H1111H1121H6834H4428H4124H7378H7378H3478H3898H389826While Israel lived 300 years in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why didn't you take them back at that time?H3478H3427H2809H1323H6177H1323H5892H3027H769H7969H3967H8141H5337H625627I have not sinned against you, but you have wronged me by fighting against me. Let the LORD [who is] the Judge decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites."H2398H6213H853H7451H3898H3068H8199H8199H3117H1121H3478H1121H598328But the king of the Ammonites would not listen to Jephthah's message that he sent him.H4428H1121H5983H8085H1697H3316H797129The Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah, who traveled through Gilead and Manasseh, and then through Mizpah of Gilead. He crossed over to the Ammonites from Mizpah of Gilead.H7307H3068H3316H5674H1568H4519H5674H4708H1568H4708H1568H5674H1121H598330Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: "If You will hand over the Ammonites to me,H3316H5087H5088H3068H559H5414H5414H1121H5983H302731whatever comes out of the doors of my house to greet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it as a burnt offering."H3318H3318H1817H1004H7125H7725H7965H1121H5983H3068H5927H593032Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD handed them over to him.H3316H5674H1121H5983H3898H3068H5414H302733He defeated 20 of their cities with a great slaughter from Aroer all the way to the entrance of Minnith and to Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.H5221H6177H935H4511H6242H5892H58H3754H64H3966H1419H4347H1121H5983H3665H6440H1121H347834When Jephthah went to his home in Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no other son or daughter besides her.H3316H935H4709H1004H1323H3318H7125H8596H4246H3173H1121H176H132335When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "No! [Not] my daughter! You have devastated me! You have brought great misery on me. I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take [it] back.H7200H7167H899H559H162H1323H3766H3766H3766H5916H6475H6310H3068H3201H772536Then she said to him, "My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD brought vengeance on your enemies, the Ammonites."H559H1H6475H6310H3068H6213H834H3318H6310H310H3068H6213H5360H341H1121H598337She also said to her father, "Let me do this one thing: Let me wander two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity."H559H1H1697H6213H7503H8147H2320H3212H3381H2022H1058H1331H7464H747438"Go," he said. And he sent her away two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity as she wandered through the mountains.H559H3212H7971H8147H2320H3212H7464H1058H1331H202239At the end of two months, she returned to her father, and he kept the vow he had made about her. And she had never been intimate with a man. Now it became a custom in IsraelH7093H8147H2320H7725H1H6213H5088H5087H3045H376H2706H347840[that] four days each year the young women of Israel would commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.H1323H3478H3212H3117H3117H8567H1323H3316H1569H702H3117H8141
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