International Standard Version

Christian Standard Bible

1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant soldier, but he was also the son of a prostitute and Jephthah's father Gilead.

1Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.

2Gilead's wife bore two sons through him, but when his wife's sons grew up, they expelled Jephthah and declared to him, "You won't have an inheritance in this house, since you're the son of a different woman."

2Gilead'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 family, because you are the son of another woman."

3So Jephthah escaped from his brothers and lived in the territory of Tob, where worthless men gathered themselves around him and went out on raiding parties with him.

3So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Then some worthless men joined Jephthah and went on raids with him.

4Later on, the Ammonites attacked Israel.

4Some time later, the Ammonites fought against Israel.

5When this happened, the elders of Gilead went to the territory of Tob to find Jephthah.

5When the Ammonites made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

6They told him, "Come and be our commander so we can fight the Ammonites!"

6They said to him, "Come, be our commander, and let's fight the Ammonites."

7But Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, "Weren't you the ones who hated me and drove me out of my father's house? And you come to me now that you're in trouble?"

7Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, "Didn't you hate me and drive me out of my father's family? Why then have you come to me now when you're in trouble?"

8So the elders of Gilead told Jephthah, "Well, we're coming back to you now so you can accompany us, fight the Ammonites, and become the head of all the inhabitants of Gilead."

8They answered Jephthah, "That's true. But now we turn to you. Come with us, fight the Ammonites, and you will become leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead."

9Then Jephthah asked the elders of Gilead, "If you all send me to fight against the Ammonites and the LORD hands them over right in front of me, will I really become your head?"

9So 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."

10The elders of Gilead responded to Jephthah, "May the Lord serve as a witness that we're making this agreement between ourselves to do as we've said."

10The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD is our witness if we don't do as you say."

11So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him head and military commander over them. Jephthah uttered everything he had to say with the solemnity of an oath in the LORD's presence at Mizpah.

11So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander, and Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.

12Afterwards, Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to ask him, "What's your dispute between us that prompted you to come and attack my land?"

12Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, asking, "What do you have against me that you have come to fight me in my land?"

13The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, "We're here because Israel took away my land from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and as far as the Jordan River when they came up from Egypt! So restore it as a gesture of good will."

13The 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."

14But Jephthah sent additional messengers again to the king of the Ammonites

14Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites

15and they informed him, "This is Jephthah's response: 'Israel didn't seize the land of Moab nor the land of the Ammonites.

15to tell him, "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.

16Here's what happened: When Israel came up from Egypt, passed through the desert to the Red Sea, and arrived at Kadesh,

16But when they came from Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.

17Israel sent a delegation to the king of Edom and asked him, "Please let us pass through your territory." 'But the king of Edom wouldn't listen. So they also sent word to the king of Moab, but he wouldn't consent, either. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

17Israel 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.

18Then they went through the desert, circumventing the territory belonging to Edom and Moab. They encamped on the other side of the Arnon River, but never entered the territory of Moab because the Arnon River is the border of Moab.

18"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.

19Then Israel sent a delegation to Sihon, king of the Amorites and king of Heshbon. Israel requested of him, "Please let us pass through your territory to our place."

19"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,'

20But Sihon didn't trust Israel to pass through his territory, so he assembled his entire army, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

20but Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. Instead, Sihon gathered all his troops, camped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

21The LORD God of Israel handed Sihon and his entire army into the control of Israel, and defeated them. As a result, Israel took control over the entire land of the Amorites, who were living in that country.

21Then the LORD God of Israel handed over Sihon and all his troops to Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of the entire land of the Amorites who lived in that country.

22They took possession of the entire territory of the Amorites from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and from the desert as far as the Jordan River.

22They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

23Now then, since the LORD God of Israel expelled the Amorites right in front of his people Israel, are you going to control their territory?

23"The LORD God of Israel has now driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, and will you now force us out?

24Don't you control what your god Chemosh gives you? In the same way, we'll take control of whomever the LORD our God has driven out in front of us.

24Isn't it true that you can have whatever your god Chemosh conquers for you, and we can have whatever the LORD our God conquers for us?

25Also ask yourselves: do you have a better case than Zippor's son Balak, king of Moab? Did he ever have a quarrel with Israel or ever win a fight against them?

25Now are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?

26When Israel was living in Heshbon and its surrounding villages, in Aroer and its surrounding villages, and in all the cities that line the banks of the Arnon River these past three hundred years, why didn't you retake them during that time?

26While Israel lived three hundred years in Heshbon and Aroer and their surrounding villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why didn't you take them back at that time?

27I haven't sinned against you, but you are acting wrongly against me by declaring war on me. May the LORD, the Judge, sit in judgment today between the Israelis and the Ammonites.'"

27I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by fighting against me. Let the LORD who is the judge decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites."

28But the king of the Ammonites wouldn't heed the message that Jephthah had sent to him.

28But the king of the Ammonites would not listen to Jephthah's message that he sent him.

29The Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah, so he swept through Gilead and the territory of Manasseh, then swept through Mizpah in Gilead, and from Mizpah in Gilead he proceeded toward where the Ammonites were encamped.

29The 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.

30Jephthah made this solemn vow to the LORD: "If you truly give the Ammonites into my control,

30Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: "If you in fact hand over the Ammonites to me,

31then if I return from the Ammonites without incident, whatever comes out the doors of my house to meet me will become the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

31whoever comes out the doors of my house to greet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer that person as a burnt offering."

32Then Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites and attacked them. The LORD gave them into his control.

32Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD handed them over to him.

33He attacked them from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith—twenty cities in all —even as far as Abel-keramim. As a result, the Ammonites were subdued right in front of the Israelis.

33He defeated twenty 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.

34When Jephthah arrived at his home in Mizpah—surprise!—it was his daughter who came out to meet him, playing tambourines and dancing. She was his one and only child. Except for her, he had no other son or daughter.

34When 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.

35When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and cried out, "Oh no! My daughter! You have terribly burdened me! You've joined those who are causing me trouble, because I've given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it.

35When 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."

36She told him, "My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me according to what has come out of your own mouth, considering that the LORD has paid back your enemies, the Ammonites."

36Then 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."

37Then she continued talking with her father, "Do this for me: leave me alone by myself for two months. I'll go up to the mountains and cry there because I'll never marry. My friends and I will go."

37She 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."

38So he said, "Go!" He sent her away for two months. She left with her friends and cried there on the mountains because she would never marry.

38"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.

39Later, after the two months were concluded, she returned to her father, and he fulfilled what he had solemnly vowed—and she never married. That's how the custom arose in Israel

39At 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 Israel

40that for four days out of every year the Israeli women would go to mourn the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite in commemoration.

40that four days each year the young women of Israel would commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.