| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute. | 1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. |
| 2Gilead’s wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. “You will not get any of our father’s inheritance,” they said, “for you are the son of a prostitute.” | 2Gilead's wife also gave him sons. When his wife's sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, "You are not going to inherit any of our father's wealth, because you are another woman's son." |
| 3So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him. | 3So Jephthah left his half-brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah's gang and traveled with him. |
| 4At about this time, the Ammonites began their war against Israel. | 4It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel. |
| 5When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. | 5When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back from the land of Tob. |
| 6The elders said, “Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammonites!” | 6They said, "Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites." |
| 7But Jephthah said to them, “Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now when you’re in trouble?” | 7Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, "But you hated me and made me leave my father's house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?" |
| 8“Because we need you,” the elders replied. “If you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead.” | 8The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That may be true, but now we pledge to you our loyalty. Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader of all who live in Gilead." |
| 9Jephthah said to the elders, “Let me get this straight. If I come with you and if the LORD gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?” | 9Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, "All right! If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, I will be your leader." |
| 10“The LORD is our witness,” the elders replied. “We promise to do whatever you say.” | 10The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD will judge any grievance you have against us, if we do not do as you say." |
| 11So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of the LORD, Jephthah repeated what he had said to the elders. | 11So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement before the LORD in Mizpah. |
| 12Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, asking, “Why have you come out to fight against my land?” | 12Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, "Why have you come against me to attack my land?" |
| 13The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land peaceably.” | 13The Ammonite king said to Jephthah's messengers, "Because Israel stole my land when they came up from Egypt--from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. Now return it peaceably!" |
| 14Jephthah sent this message back to the Ammonite king: | 14Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king |
| 15“This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not steal any land from Moab or Ammon. | 15and said to him, "This is what Jephthah says, 'Israel did not steal the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites. |
| 16When the people of Israel arrived at Kadesh on their journey from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea, | 16When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh. |
| 17they sent messengers to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through his land. But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Moab for similar permission, but he wouldn’t let them pass through either. So the people of Israel stayed in Kadesh. | 17Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please allow us to pass through your land." But the king of Edom rejected the request. Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. So Israel stayed at Kadesh. |
| 18“Finally, they went around Edom and Moab through the wilderness. They traveled along Moab’s eastern border and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they never once crossed the Arnon River into Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. | 18Then Israel went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab's border). |
| 19“Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination. | 19Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, "Please allow us to pass through your land to our land." |
| 20But King Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Jahaz and attacked them. | 20But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He assembled his whole army, camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. |
| 21But the LORD, the God of Israel, gave his people victory over King Sihon. So Israel took control of all the land of the Amorites, who lived in that region, | 21The LORD God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land. |
| 22from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the eastern wilderness to the Jordan. | 22They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west. |
| 23“So you see, it was the LORD, the God of Israel, who took away the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should we give it back to you? | 23Since the LORD God of Israel has driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them? |
| 24You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the LORD our God gives us. | 24You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the LORD our God has driven out before us. |
| 25Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he try to make a case against Israel for disputed land? Did he go to war against them? | 25Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them? |
| 26“Israel has been living here for 300 years, inhabiting Heshbon and its surrounding settlements, all the way to Aroer and its settlements, and in all the towns along the Arnon River. Why have you made no effort to recover it before now? | 26Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time? |
| 27Therefore, I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the LORD, who is judge, decide today which of us is right—Israel or Ammon.” | 27I have not done you wrong, but you are doing wrong by attacking me. May the LORD, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!'" |
| 28But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah’s message. Jephthah’s Vow | 28But the Ammonite king disregarded the message sent by Jephthah. |
| 29At that time the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites. | 29The LORD's spirit empowered Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. |
| 30And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, | 30Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, saying, "If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, |
| 31I will give to the LORD whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” | 31then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites--he will belong to the LORD and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice." |
| 32So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave him victory. | 32Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the LORD handed them over to him. |
| 33He crushed the Ammonites, devastating about twenty towns from Aroer to an area near Minnith and as far away as Abel-keramim. In this way Israel defeated the Ammonites. | 33He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith--twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. |
| 34When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters. | 34When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter. |
| 35When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “Oh, my daughter!” he cried out. “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.” | 35When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, "Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! You have brought me disaster! I made an oath to the LORD, and I cannot break it." |
| 36And she said, “Father, if you have made a vow to the LORD, you must do to me what you have vowed, for the LORD has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites. | 36She said to him, "My father, since you made an oath to the LORD, do to me as you promised. After all, the LORD vindicated you before your enemies, the Ammonites." |
| 37But first let me do this one thing: Let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin.” | 37She then said to her father, "Please grant me this one wish. For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity." |
| 38“You may go,” Jephthah said. And he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children. | 38He said, "You may go." He permitted her to leave for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills. |
| 39When she returned home, her father kept the vow he had made, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in Israel | 39After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. |
| 40for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah’s daughter. | 40Every year Israelite women commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. |
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