Judges 11:1–29

Jephthah

11Now ^aJephthah the Gileadite was ^ba mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. ²Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have ^cno inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” ³Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of ^dTob; and ^eworthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.

⁴It came to pass after a time that the ^fpeople of Ammon made war against Israel. ⁵And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶Then they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon.”

⁷So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ^g“Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in ¹distress?”

^8hAnd the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have ⁱturned ²again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be ^jour head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

⁹So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them to me, shall I be your head?”

¹⁰And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ^k“The Lord will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.” ¹¹Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him ^lhead and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words ^mbefore the Lord in Mizpah.

¹²Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, ⁿ“What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?”

¹³And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, ^o“Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from ^pthe Arnon as far as ^qthe Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably.”

¹⁴So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, ¹⁵and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ^r‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon; ¹⁶for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and ^scame to Kadesh. ¹⁷Then ^tIsrael sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me pass through your land.” ^uBut the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the ^vking of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^wremained in Kadesh. ¹⁸And they ^xwent along through the wilderness and ^ybypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹Then ^zIsrael sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please ^alet us pass through your land into our place.” ^20bBut Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. ²¹And the Lord God of Israel ^cdelivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they ^ddefeated ³them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. ²²They took possession of ^eall the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

²³‘And now the Lord God of Israel has ⁴dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it? ²⁴Will you not possess whatever ^fChemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever ^gthe Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess. ²⁵And now, are you any better than ^hBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? ²⁶While Israel dwelt in ⁱHeshbon and its villages, in ^jAroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? ²⁷Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the Lord, ^kthe Judge, ^lrender judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.’ ” ²⁸However, the king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah’s Vow and Victory

²⁹Then ^mthe Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon.