11
Jephthah
1Now ⚓Jephthah the Gileadite was ⚓a 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 ⚓no 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 ⚓Tob; and ⚓worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.
4It came to pass after a time that the ⚓people 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, ⚓“Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”
8⚓And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have ⚓turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be ⚓our 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, ⚓“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 ⚓head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words ⚓before the Lord in Mizpah.
12Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, ⚓“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, ⚓“Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from ⚓the Arnon as far as ⚓the 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: ⚓‘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 ⚓came to Kadesh.
17Then ⚓Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me pass through your land.” ⚓But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the ⚓king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ⚓remained in Kadesh.
18And they ⚓went along through the wilderness and ⚓bypassed 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 ⚓Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please ⚓let us pass through your land into our place.”
20⚓But 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 ⚓delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they ⚓defeated them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country.
22They took possession of ⚓all 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 dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it?
24Will you not possess whatever ⚓Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever ⚓the Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess.
25And now, are you any better than ⚓Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them?
26While Israel dwelt in ⚓Heshbon and its villages, in ⚓Aroer 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, ⚓the Judge, ⚓render 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 ⚓the 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.
30And Jephthah ⚓made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands,
31then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, ⚓shall surely be the Lord’s, ⚓and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands.
33And he defeated them from Aroer as far as ⚓Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
Jephthah’s Daughter
34When Jephthah came to his house at ⚓Mizpah, there was ⚓his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
35And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he ⚓tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I ⚓have given my word to the Lord, and ⚓I cannot go back on it.”
36So she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to the Lord, ⚓do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because ⚓the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon.”
37Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I.”
38So he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.
39And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he ⚓carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man.
And it became a custom in Israel
40that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
11
Yetha
1Yetha kws yog tuabneeg Kile‑a yog ib tug tub rog sab luj sab tuab. Nwg nam yog ib tug puj muag cev, nwg txwv yog Kile‑a.
2Kile‑a tug nam tsaav cuab muaj ob peb tug tub. Thaus cov tub hov hlub lawm puab txawm ntab Yetha tswv moog hab has tas, “Koj yuav tsw muaj feem tau peb txwv le qub txeeg qub teg tsua qhov koj yog dua ib tug nam yug.”
3Yetha txawm tswv ntawm cov kwvtij moog nyob huv lub tebchaws Thauj. Cov tuabneeg tsw tsheej haaj tuaj koom nrug nwg moog ua tub saab tub nyag.
4Dhau lug tom qaab cov Aamoo ua rog rua cov Yixayee.
5Thaus cov Aamoo ua rog rua cov Yixayee hov, cov kev txwj quas laug huv Kile‑a tebchaws txawm moog coj Yetha huv Thauj tebchaws lug.
6Puab has rua Yetha tas, “Ca le lug ua peb tug thawj es peb yuav ua rog rua cov Aamoo.”
7Tassws Yetha has rua Kile‑a cov kev txwj quas laug tas, “Mej ntxub kuv hab ntab kuv tawm huv kuv txwv lub tsev los tsw yog? Ua caag nwgnuav mej raug kev ceblaaj txom nyem mej tsua tuaj nrhav kuv hab?”
8Kile‑a cov kev txwj quas laug has rua Yetha tas, “Qhov kws peb tuaj cuag koj nuav kuj yog cheem tsum koj nrug peb moog ntaus cov Aamoo hab moog ua peb tug thawj kaav taag nrho cov Kile‑a huvsw.”
9Yetha txhad has rua Kile‑a cov kev txwj quas laug tas, “Yog mej coj kuv rov moog tsev moog ua rog rua cov Aamoo hab yog Yawmsaub muab puab cob rua huv kuv txhais teg, mas kuv yuav ua mej tug thawj.”
10Kile‑a cov kev txwj quas laug has rua Yetha tas, “Yawmsaub ua timkhawv rua peb, peb yeej yuav ua lawv le koj has.”
11Yetha txhad nrug Kile‑a cov kev txwj quas laug moog mas cov pejxeem txhad tsaa nwg ua tug thawj hab ua tug kaav hlo puab. Yetha txhad has tej lug kws puab has hum huvsw hov taab meeg Yawmsaub ntawm lub moos Mixapa.
12Yetha txhad tso tuabneeg xaa xuv moog has rua cov Aamoo tug vaajntxwv tas, “Koj muaj plaub daabtsw rua kuv es koj yuav tuaj ua rog rua kuv lub tebchaws?”
13Cov Aamoo tug vaajntxwv teb Yetha tej tub xaa xuv tas, “Vem yog thaus cov Yixayee tawm huv Iyi tebchaws lug puab txeeb kuv lub tebchaws lawm txwj ntawm tug dej Anoo moog txug tug dej Yanpo hab moog txug tug dej Yalatee. Nwgnuav ca le thim lub tebchaws nuav zoo zoo rov lug.”
14Yetha tso tuabneeg xaa xuv rov moog cuag cov Aamoo tug vaajntxwv dua,
15puab has tas, “Yetha has le nuav tas, Cov Yixayee tsw tau txeeb Mau‑a lub tebchaws hab cov Aamoo lub tebchaws le.
16Tassws thaus cov Yixayee tawm huv Iyi tebchaws lug, puab taug kev huv tebchaws moj saab qhua moog txug Havtxwv Lab hab lug txug ntawm Khante.
17Mas cov Yixayee tso tuabneeg xaa xuv moog has rua Entoo tug vaajntxwv tas, ‘Thov koj kheev peb hlaa koj lub tebchaws moog,’ tassws Entoo tug vaajntxwv tsw quav ntsej le. Puab tso tuabneeg moog thov Mau‑a tug vaajntxwv ib yaam le ntawd, los nwg kuj tsw kheev. Yog le hov cov Yixayee txhad nyob ntawm Khante.
18Tes puab txawm moog huv tebchaws moj saab qhua zos Entoo hab Mau‑a lub tebchaws lug txug ntawm Mau‑a lub tebchaws saab nub tuaj hab tsuam chaw nyob ntawm tug dej Anoo saab peg. Puab tub tsw moog rua huv Mau‑a tebchaws le, tsua qhov tug dej Anoo tub ua nrwm teb quas Mau‑a tebchaws lawm.
19Cov Yixayee txhad tso tuabneeg xaa xuv moog cuag cov Amaulai tug vaajntxwv Xihoo huv lub moos Hesanpoo. Cov Yixayee has rua nwg tas, ‘Thov ca peb hlaa koj lub tebchaws moog rua huv peb lub tebchaws.’
20Tassws Xihoo tsw tso sab ca cov Yixayee hlaa nwg lub tebchaws, Xihoo txawm txhwj nwg cov tuabneeg suavdawg moog ua lub yeej rua ntawm Yahaj hab ua rog rua cov Yixayee.
21Mas Yawmsaub kws yog cov Yixayee tug Vaajtswv txhad muab Xihoo hab nwg cov tuabneeg huvsw rua huv cov Yixayee txhais teg, nwg txhad swb lawm. Cov Yixayee txhad txeeb hlo cov Amaulai kws nyob hov ntawd lub tebchaws huvsw.
22Cov Yixayee txeeb hlo cov Amaulai lub tebchaws txwj ntawm tug dej Anoo moog txug tug dej Yanpo, hab txwj ntawm lub tebchaws moj saab qhua moog txug tug dej Yalatee.
23“Yog le nuav Yawmsaub kws yog cov Yixayee tug Vaajtswv txhad ntab cov Amaulai tswv tawm ntawm nwg haiv tuabneeg Yixayee hauv ntej moog. Mas koj txawm yuav muab ua koj tug lov?
24Koj tsw ceev tej kws koj tug daab Khemauj muab cob rua koj lov? Txhua thaaj kws peb tug Vaajtswv Yawmsaub ntab luas tawm ntawm peb hauv ntej moog es pub rua peb, peb yuav ceev ca.
25Koj zoo dua Xipau tug tub Npalaj kws ua vaajntxwv huv Mau‑a tebchaws lov? Npalaj txeev nrug cov Yixayee sws ntsuag zug hab ua rog rua puab lov?
26Cov Yixayee tub nyob huv lub moos Hesanpoo hab ib ncig lub moos ntawd hab nyob huv lub moos Alau‑aw hab ib ncig ntawd hab nyob huv txhua lub moos lawv tug ntug dej Anoo tau peb puas xyoo, ua caag koj tsw txeeb rov qaab thaus ntawd?
27Yog le nuav kuv tsw tau ua txhum rua koj, koj yog tug ua txhum rua kuv tsua qhov kws ua rog rua kuv. Ca Yawmsaub kws yog tug txav txem lug tu plaub rua cov Yixayee hab cov Aamoo nub nua.”
28Tassws cov Aamoo tug vaajntxwv tsw noog tej lug kws Yetha tso tuabneeg moog has hov.
29Mas Yawmsaub tug Ntsuj Plig lug kaav hlo Yetha, nwg txhad hlaa hlo Kile‑a hab Manaxe tebchaws moog rua ntawm lub moos Mixapa huv Kile‑a, hab tawm ntawm Mixapa huv Kile‑a moog txug cov Aamoo.
30Yetha txhad fev rua Yawmsaub has tas, “Yog koj muab cov Aamoo rua huv kuv txhais teg lawm,
31mas leejtwg kws tawm huv kuv lub qhov rooj tuaj tog kuv rua thaus kuv kov yeej cov Aamoo rov qaab lug, tug hov yuav muab ua Yawmsaub le hab kuv yuav muab nwg ua kevcai hlawv xyeem.”
32Tes Yetha txawm hlaa moog ua rog rua cov Aamoo mas Yawmsaub muab puab cob rua huv nwg txhais teg.
33Mas nwg tua tau puab txwj ntawm lub moos Alau‑aw moog yuav txug lub moos Minij, huvsw ntaus tau neeg nkaum lub moos hab moog txug ncua lub moos Anpee Khelamee, tuabneeg tuag coob heev. Cov Aamoo txhad swb hlo zwm rua cov Yixayee.
Yetha tug ntxhais
34Yetha txawm rov qaab lug tsev rua huv Mixapa, tes nwg tug ntxhais npuaj nruag seev cev tuaj tog nwg. Nwg le mivnyuas muaj tuab tug ntxhais hov xwb tsw muaj dua lwm tug tub ntxhais hlo le.
35Thaus nwg pum dheev tug ntxhais hov nwg txawm dua rhe nwg lub tsho hab has tas, “Au mivntxhais 'e, koj ua rua kuv txom nyem lauj! Koj ua rua kuv nyuaj sab heev kawg vem kuv tau tsaa ncauj fev rua Yawmsaub lawm, yuav thim tsw tau tej lug hov.”
36Nwg txhad has rua leej txwv tas, “Txwv, yog koj tau tsaa ncauj cog lug rua Yawmsaub le caag lawm, ca le ua rua kuv lawv le koj cog lug ntawd, tsua qhov Yawmsaub tub pauj taub cov Aamoo kws yog koj tej yeeb ncuab rua koj lawm.”
37Nwg kuj has rua leej txwv tas, “Kuv thov koj ca kuv ua le nuav xwb, thov tso kuv nyob kaab ntsaab ob lub hlis kuv txhad tau moog moog lug lug rua peg roob hab nrug kuv tej phoojywg quaj ntsuag txug kuv txujkev ua ntxhais nkauj xwb.”
38Leejtxwv teb tas, “Ca le moog.” Nwg txhad tso tug ntxhais moog ob lub hlis. Mas tug ntxhais hab tej phoojywg txhad tawm moog quaj ntsuag txug nwg lub cev nkauj xwb rua peg roob.
39Thaus puv ob hlis lawd, nwg txhad rov lug rua ntawm leej txwv, mas leej txwv kuj muab nwg xyeem lawv le nwg tau cog lug tseg lawd. Nwg yeej tsw tau nrug dua txwvneej pw le.
Qhov nuav txhad ua ib txuj kevcai rua cov Yixayee,
40kuas puab tej ntxhais naj xyoo quaj ntsuag txug Yetha kws yog tuabneeg Kile‑a tug ntxhais ib xyoos mas plaub nub.