1 ARST There was a man from the region of Gilead named Jephthah. He proved himself to be a great warrior. But his mother was a prostitute. His father was Gilead. BSB BSB: Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
2 ARST Gilead’ s wife gave birth to several sons. When they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave home, saying to him,“You are the son of another woman, not the son of our mother. So when our father dies, you will not receive any of his property.” BSB BSB: And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”
3 ARST So Jephthah ran away from his brothers, and he lived in the land of Tob. While he was there, some lawless men joined together with Jepthah, and they went out raiding together. BSB BSB: So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.
4 ARST Some time later, the soldiers of the Ammon people group attacked the soldiers of Israel. BSB BSB: Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel
5 ARST And the leaders of Gilead went out to find Jephthah so they could bring him back, and away from the land of Tob. BSB BSB: and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6 ARST They said to him,“Come with us and lead our army, and help us fight the army of Ammon!” BSB BSB: “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”
7 ARST But Jephthah replied,“You hated me! You forced me to leave my father’ s house! So why have you come to me now and ask for my help, just when you have trouble?” BSB BSB: Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”
8 ARST The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah,“That is why we are coming to you now. Come and fight with us and lead our soldiers against the soldiers of Ammon, and you will be the leader over everyone who lives in Gilead.” BSB BSB: They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.”
9 ARST Jephthah answered them,“If I go back to Gilead with you to fight against the army of Ammon, and if Yahweh helps us to defeat them, then I will be your leader.” BSB BSB: But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, will I really be your leader?”
10 ARST They replied,“Yahweh is a witness to everything we are saying to you. So he will punish us if we do not what we are promising you.” BSB BSB: And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.”
11 ARST So Jephthah went with them back to Gilead, and the people appointed him to be their leader and the commander of their army. And Jephthah repeated to Yahweh there at Mizpah the terms of the agreement he had made. BSB BSB: So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.
12 ARST Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammon people group. They asked the king,“What have we done to make you angry, so your army is coming to fight against the people in our land?” BSB BSB: Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?”
13 ARST The king replied,“You took our land when you came here from Egypt. You took all our land east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north. So now give it back to us without a fight.” BSB BSB: The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”
14 ARST So Jephthah sent the messengers to the king again. BSB BSB: Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites
15 ARST They said to him,“This is what Jephthah says:‘Israel did not take the land of the Moabites and the Ammonites. BSB BSB: to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites.
16 ARST When the Israelite people came out of Egypt, they walked through the desert to the Red Sea, and then walked across it and traveled to the town of Kadesh at the border of the region of Edom. BSB BSB: But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17 ARST They sent messengers to the king of the Edomites to say to him,“Please allow us to walk across your land.” But the king of the Edomites refused. Later they sent the same message to the king of the Moabites, but he also refused to allow them to go through his land. So the Israelites stayed at Kadesh for a long time. BSB BSB: Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.
18 ARST Then the Israelites went into the desert and walked outside the borders of Edom and Moab. They walked east of Moab, and then north of the Arnon River, which is the northern border of Moab. They did not cross into the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. BSB BSB: Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed 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 they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border.
19 ARST Then the leaders of Israel sent a message to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. They asked him,“Please allow us Israelite people to cross through your land so we may go into the land that is ours.” BSB BSB: And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’
20 ARST But Sihon did not trust the Israelites to pass through his land in peace. So he gathered all his soldiers and they set up their tents at the village of Jahaz, and there he fought against Israel. BSB BSB: But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
21 ARST But Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave help to the Israelite army and they defeated Sihon and his army. Then they took possession of all the land where the Amorites had lived. BSB BSB: Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country,
22 ARST The Israelites took all the land that belonged to the Amorites, from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and from the desert in the east to the Jordan River in the west. BSB BSB: seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23 ARST It was Yahweh, the God of Israel, who forced the Amorites to leave the places where they lived, as the Israelites advanced. So do you now think that you can now take possession of their land? BSB BSB: Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it?
24 ARST You have the right to the land when your god Chemosh gives it to you. And we will live in the land that Yahweh our God has given to us! BSB BSB: Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.
25 ARST Are you better than Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab? He never dared to fight against Israel! BSB BSB: Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?
26 ARST For three hundred years the Israelites lived in the cities of Heshbon and Aroer, in the surrounding towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon River. Why have you Ammonites not taken back those cities during all those years? BSB BSB: For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time?
27 ARST We have not done wrong against you, but you are doing wrong against me by attacking me and my army. I trust that Yahweh, who is the judge, will decide whether the people of Israel or the people of Ammon are in the right.’” BSB BSB: I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
28 ARST But the king of Ammon ignored the warning contained in this message from Jephthah. BSB BSB: But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.
31 ARST when I return from the battle, I will sacrifice to you whatever comes out of my house to greet me. That will belong to you.” BSB BSB: then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32 ARST Then Jephthah and his men went from Mizpah to attack the Ammonites, and Yahweh enabled his army to defeat them. BSB BSB: So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
33 ARST Jephthah and his men killed them, from the city of Aroer all the way to the area around the city of Minnith. They destroyed twenty cities, as far as the city of Abel Keramim. So the Israelites completely defeated the Ammonites. BSB BSB: With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.
34 ARST When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, his daughter was the first one to come out of the house to meet him. She was joyfully playing a tambourine and dancing. She was his only child and he had no other sons or daughters. BSB BSB: And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
35 ARST When Jephthah saw his daughter, he tore his clothes to show that he was very sad about what he was going to do. He said to her,“My daughter, seeing you now, you have crushed me with a terrible sorrow, because I made a solemn promise to Yahweh to sacrifice the first one who came out of my house, and I must do what I promised.” BSB BSB: As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”
36 ARST His daughter said,“My father, you made a solemn promise to Yahweh. So you must do to me what you promised, because you said that you would do that if Yahweh helped you to defeat our enemies, the Ammonites.” BSB BSB: “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.”
38 ARST Jephthah replied,“All right, you may go.” So she left for two months. She and her friends stayed in the hills and they cried for her because she would never be married. BSB BSB: “Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains.
40 ARST that the young Israelite women go into the hills for four days every year. There they remember and cry about what happened to the daughter of Jephthah. BSB BSB: that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.