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

Yepv^taa

¹Gi^le^aatc Mienh, Yepv^taa, zoux dauh henv haic nyei baeng, mv baac ninh nyei maa se maaic buonv-sin nyei m'sieqv dorn. Ninh nyei die se Gi^le^aatc. ²Gi^le^aatc nyei zien auv yaac yungz duqv camv-dauh dorn bun ninh. Nqa'haav wuov deix dorn hlo daaih, ninh mbuo zunc Yepv^taa biaux. Ninh mbuo gorngv, “Meih maiv maaih buonc nzipc yie mbuo nyei die nyei jaa-dingh, weic zuqc meih benx ganh dauh m'sieqv dorn nyei dorn.” ³Yepv^taa ziouc biaux ninh nyei muoz-doic, mingh yiem Topv Deic-Bung. Maaih deix guangx-guonx mienh mingh caux Yepv^taa zoux doic, caux ninh bieqc bieqc cuotv-cuotv.
⁴Jiex daaih, nqa'haav Ammon Mienh daaih mborqv I^saa^laa^en Mienh. ⁵Wuov zanc Gi^le^aatc Mienh nyei ⟨mienh gox⟩ mingh Topv Deic-Bung oix dorh Yepv^taa nzuonx daaih. ⁶Ninh mbuo gorngv mbuox Yepv^taa, “Tov daaih zoux yie mbuo nyei bieiv zeiv, weic bun yie mbuo haih mborqv Ammon Mienh.”
⁷Yepv^taa dau Gi^le^aatc nyei mienh gox, “Zinh ndaangc meih mbuo maiv zeiz nzorng yie, zunc yie cuotv yie nyei die nyei biauv fai? Buangh zuqc kouv naanc nyei ziangh hoc meih mbuo daaih lorz yie zoux haaix nyungc laeh?”
⁸Gi^le^aatc nyei mienh gox gorngv mbuox Yepv^taa, “Ih zanc yie mbuo daaih lorz meih, oix meih caux yie mbuo mingh mborqv Ammon Mienh, yaac zoux yie mbuo nyei bieiv zeiv, gunv yiem Gi^le^aatc Deic nyei yietc zungv baeqc fingx.”
⁹Yepv^taa ziouc gorngv mbuox Gi^le^aatc nyei mienh gox, “Se gorngv yie nzuonx mingh dorh meih mbuo mingh caux Ammon Mienh mborqv jaax, Ziouv yaac zorqv ninh mbuo jiu bun yiem yie nyei buoz-ndiev nor, yie za'gengh duqv zoux meih mbuo nyei bieiv zeiv fai?”
¹⁰Gi^le^aatc nyei mienh gox dau Yepv^taa, “Ziouv tengx mbuo zoux zorng-zengx, yie mbuo laengz ei jienv meih gorngv nyei waac zoux nzengc.” ¹¹Yepv^taa ziouc caux jienv Gi^le^aatc nyei mienh gox nzuonx. Baeqc fingx orn Yepv^taa zoux bieiv zeiv, yaac zoux domh jien gunv ninh mbuo. Yepv^taa yiem wuov Mitv^baa Mungv dorng jienv Ziouv gorngv ninh laengz nyei yietc zungv waac.
¹²Yepv^taa ziouc paaiv douc fienx mienh mingh naaic Ammon Mienh nyei hungh diex, “Meih caux yie maaih jiex haaix nyungc sic meih cingx bieqc yie nyei deic-bung daaih oix caux yie mbuo mborqv jaax?”
¹³Ammon Mienh nyei hungh diex dau Yepv^taa nyei douc fienx mienh, “Weic zuqc I^saa^laa^en Mienh yiem I^yipv Deic-Bung cuotv wuov zanc, ninh mbuo nzaeng yie mbuo nyei deic-bung yiem Aannon Ndaaih mingh taux Yapv^mborkc Ndaaih, zungv mingh taux Jor^ndaen Ndaaih. Ih zanc tov meih mbuo baengh orn nyei tuix naaiv deix ndau nzuonx bun yie.”
¹⁴Yepv^taa aengx paaiv douc fienx mienh mingh lorz Ammon Mienh nyei hungh. ¹⁵Yepv^taa gorngv,
“Yepv^taa hnangv naaiv nor gorngv, ‘I^saa^laa^en Mienh maiv duqv nzaeng Mo^apc Mienh fai Ammon Mienh nyei deic-bung. ¹⁶Dongh I^saa^laa^en Mienh yiem I^yipv Deic-Bung cuotv daaih wuov zanc, Ninh Mbuo yangh deic-bung- huaang jiex mingh taux Koiv-Siqv, yaac daaih taux Kaa^ndetc. ¹⁷I^saa^laa^en Mienh ziouc paaiv douc fienx mienh mingh mbuox E^ndom nyei hungh diex, “Tov bun yie mbuo yangh meih nyei deic- bung jiex oc.” Mv baac E^ndom nyei hungh maiv muangx. Ninh mbuo aengx fih hnangv nyei bun mienh mingh tov Mo^apc nyei hungh diex mv baac ninh yaac maiv nqoi nzuih. Hnangv naaic I^saa^laa^en Mienh ziouc dingh njiec yiem Kaa^ndetc.⚓
¹⁸“ ‘Nqa'haav ninh mbuo yangh deic-bung-huaang, wingc E^ndom caux Mo^apc Deic-Bung, yangh Mo^apc nyei dong bung jiex, liepc ciangv yiem Aannon Ndaaih nyei baqv bung maengx. Mv baac ninh mbuo maiv bieqc Mo^apc Deic, weic zuqc Aannon Ndaaih benx Mo^apc nyei gapv-jaaix.⚓
¹⁹“ ‘I^saa^laa^en Mienh ziouc paaiv douc fienx mienh mingh Hetv^mbon Zingh lorz Aa^mo^lai Mienh nyei Si^honx Hungh gorngv mbuox ninh, “Tov bun yie mbuo yangh meih nyei deic-bung jiex, weic mingh yie mbuo ganh nyei deic-bung.”⚓ ²⁰Mv baac Si^honx maiv bungx hnyouv I^saa^laa^en Mienh yangh ninh nyei deic-bung jiex. Si^honx ziouc heuc ninh nyei zuangx baeqc fingx daaih gapv zunv liepc ciangv yiem Yaa^haatv caux I^saa^laa^en Mienh mborqv jaax.
²¹“ ‘Ziouv, I^saa^laa^en Mienh nyei Tin-Hungh, zorqv Si^honx caux ninh nyei baeqc fingx jiu bun yiem I^saa^laa^en Mienh nyei buoz-ndiev. Aa^mo^lai Mienh ziouc suei nzengc mi'aqv. I^saa^laa^en Mienh duqv nzengc yiem wuov norm deic-bung nyei Aa^mo^lai Mienh nyei deic. ²²Ninh mbuo caangv duqv Aa^mo^lai Mienh nyei deic-bung yiem Aannon Ndaaih mingh taux Yapv^mborkc Ndaaih yaac yiem deic-bung-huaang mingh taux Jor^ndaen Ndaaih.
²³“ ‘Hnangv naaic Ziouv, I^saa^laa^en Mienh nyei Tin-Hungh, yiem ninh nyei baeqc fingx, I^saa^laa^en Mienh, nyei wuov ndaangc maengx zunc cuotv Aa^mo^lai Mienh. Wuov nyungc meih oix zorqv benx meih nyei buonc deic-bung fai? ²⁴Meih nyei zienh, Kemotv, jiu haaix nyungc bun meih, meih maiv zeiz longc benx meih nyei buonc fai? Ziouv, yie mbuo nyei Tin-Hungh, yiem yie mbuo nyei wuov ndaangc maengx zunc haaix dauh cuotv, yie mbuo m'daaih longc benx yie mbuo nyei buonc. ²⁵Meih gauh longx Mo^apc nyei hungh, Sipc^bo nyei dorn, Mbaalaakv fai? Ninh caux I^saa^laa^en Mienh nzaeng jiex nyei fai? Ninh caux ninh mbuo mborqv jiex jaax fai?⚓ ²⁶I^saa^laa^en Mienh yiem Hetv^mbon Zingh caux weih gormx nyei fiuv-laangz, yaac yiem Aa^lo^e Zingh caux weih gormx nyei fiuv-laangz, yaac yiem Aannon Ndaaih hlen nyei yietc zungv zingh duqv faam-baeqv hnyangx wuov deix ziangh hoc gu'nyuoz, meih mbuo weic haaix diuc maiv zorqv naaiv deix ndau nzuonx? ²⁷Hnangv naaiv, yie maiv zoux dorngc meih, meih zoux dorngc yie weic zuqc meih caux yie mborqv jaax. Tov Siemv Zuiz nyei Ziouv ih hnoi yiem I^saa^laa^en Mienh caux Ammon Mienh mbu'ndongx dunx sic.’+”
²⁸Mv baac Ammon Mienh nyei hungh maiv muangx Yepv^taa paaiv mingh nyei mienh gorngv nyei waac.
²⁹Ziouv nyei Singx Lingh ziouc daaih yiem Yepv^taa. Ninh ziouc jiex Gi^le^aatc caux Maa^natv^se aengx jiex Gi^le^aatc Deic nyei Mitv^baa Zingh. Ninh yiem Gi^le^aatc Deic nyei Mitv^baa jiex mingh taux Ammon Mienh yiem nyei dorngx. ³⁰Yepv^taa houv waac bun Ziouv. Ninh gorngv, “Se gorngv meih zorqv Ammon Mienh jiu bun yiem yie nyei buoz-ndiev nor, ³¹yie mborqv hingh Ammon Mienh nzuonx taux yie nyei biauv wuov zanc, haaix dauh⚓ yiem yie nyei biauv nyei gaengh cuotv daaih zipv yie ndaangc jiex, yie laengz zorqv wuov dauh benx Ziouv nyei buonc. Yie yaac oix zorqv ninh fongc horc zoux buov ziec nyei ga'naaiv.”⚓
³²Yepv^taa ziouc jiex mingh caux Ammon Mienh mborqv jaax. Ziouv yaac zorqv ninh mbuo jiu bun yiem ninh nyei buoz-ndiev. ³³Yepv^taa yiem Aa^lo^e Zingh daix jienv Ammon Mienh mingh taux Minnitv Mungv ga'hlen, zungv mingh taux Aa^mben Ke^laa^mim mborqv baaic nyic ziepc norm zingh. Mienh camv haic zuqc daix daic. Ammon Mienh ziouc suei I^saa^laa^en Mienh.

Yepv^taa Nyei Sieqv

³⁴Yepv^taa ziouc nzuonx ninh ganh nyei biauv, Mitv^baa wuov. Ninh nyei sieqv nanv jienv lorh nzoz cangx jienv heix cuotv daaih zipv ninh. Ninh se Yepv^taa nyei nduqc dauh sieqv hnangv. Cuotv liuz naaiv dauh sieqv, ninh maiv maaih dorn, yaac maiv maaih sieqv aqv. ³⁵Ninh buatc ninh nyei sieqv wuov zanc, ninh ziouc betv ganh nyei lui-houx⚓ yaac gorngv, “O aa sieqv aah! Laaix meih, die nyei hnyouv mun haic aqv. Gengh bun die haiz aqc haic, weic zuqc die duqv caux Ziouv houv liuz waac yaac maiv haih tuix.”⚓
³⁶Ninh nyei sieqv gorngv mbuox ninh, “Aa die aah! Se gorngv die dorng jienv Ziouv laengz waac nor, ziux die laengz nyei waac gunv zoux bun yie aqv. Weic zuqc Ziouv duqv weic die jaauv win bun die nyei win-wangv, Ammon Mienh.” ³⁷Ninh aengx gorngv mbuox ninh nyei die, “Yie oix tov yietc nyungc. Tov bun i hlaax nyieqc yie. Sueih yie caux yie nyei sieqv-dorn-doic faaux mbong-aiv-dorngx nzauh nyiemv yie yietc liuz maiv duqv dorng jaa.”
³⁸Yepv^taa gorngv, “Gunv mingh maah!” Ninh ziouc nqoi nzuih bun ninh nyei sieqv mingh i hlaax nyieqc. Yepv^taa nyei sieqv ziouc mingh mi'aqv. Ninh caux jienv ninh nyei sieqv-dorn-doic mingh wuov mbong nzauh nyiemv weic ninh yietc liuz maiv duqv dorng jaa. ³⁹Nqa'haav buangv i hlaax nyieqc, ninh nzuonx ninh nyei die nyei biauv. Yepv^taa ziouc zoux bun ninh nyei sieqv ziux ninh houv jienv laengz nyei waac. Wuov dauh sieqv maiv bueix jiex m'jangc dorn.
⁴⁰Yiem naaic daaih I^saa^laa^en Mienh maaih naaiv nyungc leiz-fingx. Mouz hnyangx I^saa^laa^en Mienh nyei sieqv-dorn longc biei hnoi mingh weic Gi^le^aatc Mienh, Yepv^taa nyei sieqv, nzauh nyiemv.