Judges, Chapter 11:

Verses from Judges, Chapter 11 of the book of Judges in the Bible.

• 1. There was a brave man named Jephter, a native of Gilead and the son of a prostitute, whose father's name was Gilead.
• 2. Gilead's wife also bore him sons, who grew up and drove Jephter out, saying, "You will have no inheritance in our father's house, because you are the son of another woman."
• 3. Then Jephter fled from his brothers and settled in Tob. There stray men joined him and became his companions.
• 4. After some time, the Ammonites went to war against Israel.
• 5. Then the leaders of Gilead went to Jephther in Tob and said, “Come and be our leader in the fight against the Ammonites.”
• 6. Jefter replied, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?”
• 7. But the leaders of Gilead said, “We turned to you because we need your help. Come and be our leader; we will obey him in everything.”
• 8. Jefter asked, “If I come back and lead you into battle against the Ammonites, and the Lord gives you victory, will you make me your leader?”
• 9. The leaders of Gilead responded, “The Lord is a witness to what we are saying. We will certainly do as you ask.”
• 10. Then Jephther went with the leaders of Gilead, and the people made him leader and commander over them. And he repeated before the Lord in Mizpeh all that he had said.
• 11. Then Jephther sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, asking, “Why are you waging war against Israel and our land?”
• 12. The king of the Ammonites answered Jephther's messengers: “When Israel came out of Egypt, they took my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and the Jordan. Now return her peacefully.”
• 13. Jephter again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites,
• 14. and said to him, “This is what Jephter says: Israel has not taken the land of the Moabites or the land of the Ammonites.
• 15. When Israel left Egypt, they walked through the desert to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
• 16. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, asking, 'Let us pass through your land,' but the king of Edom did not agree. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he did not allow them. So Israel remained in Kadesh.
• 17. Then they crossed the desert and went around Edom and Moab. They passed east of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, without entering the territory of Moab, because the Arnon River was the border of Moab.
• 18. “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites at Heshbon, saying, 'Let us pass through your land to our destination.'
• 19. But Sihon did not trust Israel and gathered his entire army. He camped in Jazah and fought against Israel.
• 20. Then the Lord, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his army into the hands of Israel, who defeated them. Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who lived in that region,
• 21. from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
• 22. Now the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before his people Israel. Do you now want to take possession of it?
• 23. Are you better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever fight against Israel? Was there a war between them?
• 24. For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding cities and all the cities on the banks of the Arnon River. Why haven't you gotten them back in all this time?
• 25. I have not sinned against you, but you are sinning against me, waging war against me. May the Lord, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
• 26. But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to Jephther's message.
• 27. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephter. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead and advanced against the Ammonites.
• 28. Jephter made a vow to the Lord: “If you deliver the Ammonites into my hands,
• 29. The first one who comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the battle against the Ammonites, I will dedicate him to the Lord and offer him as a sacrifice.”
• 30. And Jephter went through the land of the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hand.
• 31. He defeated them completely, capturing twenty cities from Aroer to near Minit. Thus, the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.
• 32. When Jephter returned to his home in Mizpah, his daughter came out to find him dancing to the sound of tambourines. She was his only daughter; he had no son or daughter besides her.
• 33. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and exclaimed: “Woe is me, my daughter! You have brought me great sadness and suffering. I made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”
• 34. She replied, “My father, if you have made a vow to the Lord, do with me what you promised, for the Lord has given you victory over your enemies, the Ammonites.”
• 35. She also asked: “But let me stay for two months to go to the mountains with my friends and lament my virginity.”
• 36. Jefter agreed: “Go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went to mourn her virginity in the mountains.
• 37. After the two months, she returned to her father, and he fulfilled the vow he had made. She has never had relations with any man. And this became a custom in Israel
• 38. for the women of Israel to go out every year for four days to remember the daughter of Jephter the Gileadite.
• 39. When they returned, Jefter made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you will give me victory over the Ammonites,
• 40. Whoever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return from battle in peace will be dedicated to the Lord and offered as a sacrifice.”

Online Bible