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
耶弗他的出生
1基列人耶弗他是个大能的勇士，是妓女的儿子。基列生了耶弗他。
2基列的妻子也给他生了几个儿子。他妻子生的儿子长大后，就把耶弗他赶出去，说：“你不可在我们父家继承产业，因为你是别的女人生的儿子。”
3耶弗他就逃离他的兄弟，住在陀伯地。有些无赖的人聚集在他那里，与他一同出入。
4过了些日子，亚扪人攻打以色列。
5亚扪人攻打以色列的时候，基列的长老去请耶弗他从陀伯地回来。
6他们对耶弗他说：“请你来作我们的指挥官，好让我们跟亚扪人打仗。”
7耶弗他对基列的长老说：“你们不是恨我，把我赶出父家吗？现在你们遭遇急难，为何到我这里来呢？”
8基列的长老对耶弗他说：“现在我们回到你这里，是要请你同我们去跟亚扪人打仗，作基列所有居民的领袖。”
9耶弗他对基列的长老说：“若你们请我回去跟亚扪人打仗，耶和华把他们交给我，我就作你们的领袖。”
10基列的长老对耶弗他说：“有耶和华在你我之间作证，我们必定照你的话做。”
11于是耶弗他与基列的长老同去，百姓就立耶弗他作他们的领袖和指挥官。耶弗他在米斯巴将他一切的事陈述在耶和华面前。
12耶弗他派使者到亚扪人的王那里，说：“你与我有什么相干，竟来到我这里攻打我的地呢？”
13亚扪人的王对耶弗他的使者说：“因为以色列从埃及上来的时候占据我的地，从亚嫩河到雅博河，直到约旦河。现在你要和平归还这些地方！”
14耶弗他又派使者到亚扪人的王那里，
15对他说：“耶弗他如此说：以色列并没有占据摩押地和亚扪人的地。
16以色列人从埃及上来，是经过旷野到红海⚓，来到加低斯。
17那时，以色列派使者去以东王那里，说：‘求你让我穿越你的地。’以东王却不听。以色列又照样派使者去摩押王那里，他也不肯。于是以色列人就住在加低斯。
18他们又经过旷野，绕过以东地和摩押地，到摩押地的东边⚓，在亚嫩河边安营，并没有进入摩押的境内，因为亚嫩河是摩押的边界。
19以色列派使者去亚摩利王，就是希实本王西宏那里；以色列对他说：‘求你让我们穿越你的地，到我自己的地方去。’
20西宏却不信任以色列，不让他们穿越他的疆界。他召集了他的众百姓在雅杂安营，与以色列争战。
21耶和华－以色列的上帝将西宏和他的众百姓都交在以色列手中，以色列人就击杀他们，占领了那地居民亚摩利人的全地。
22他们占领了亚摩利人所有的疆土，从亚嫩河到雅博河，从旷野直到约旦河。
23耶和华－以色列的上帝如今从他百姓以色列面前赶出亚摩利人，你竟要占领它吗？
24你不是已经得了你的神明基抹赐给你的地为业吗？耶和华－我们的上帝在我们面前所赶出的，我们也要得它为业。
25现在你比西拨的儿子摩押王巴勒还强吗？他真的曾与以色列争执，或是真的与他们争战了吗？
26以色列人住希实本和所属的乡镇，亚罗珥和所属的乡镇，以及沿着亚嫩河的一切城镇，已经有三百年了。在这期间，你们为什么不取回呢？
27我并没有得罪你，你却要攻打我，加害于我。愿审判人的耶和华今日在以色列人和亚扪人之间判断是非。”
28但亚扪人的王不听耶弗他传达给他的话。
29耶和华的灵降在耶弗他身上，他就经过基列和玛拿西，经过基列的米斯巴，又从基列的米斯巴过到亚扪人那里。
30耶弗他向耶和华许愿，说：“你若真的将亚扪人交在我手中，
31我从亚扪人那里平平安安回来的时候，无论谁先从我家门出来迎接我，就要归给耶和华，我必将他献上作为燔祭。”
32于是耶弗他往亚扪人那里去，与他们争战。耶和华将他们交在他手中，
33他就彻底击败他们，从亚罗珥到米匿，直到亚备勒．基拉明，攻取了二十座城。这样，亚扪人就在以色列人面前被制伏了。
耶弗他的女儿
34耶弗他回米斯巴去，到了自己的家，看哪，他女儿拿着手鼓跳舞出来迎接他。她是耶弗他的独生女，除她以外，没有别的儿女。
35耶弗他一看见她，就撕裂衣服，说：“哀哉！我的女儿啊，你使我非常悲痛，叫我十分为难了。因为我已经向耶和华开了口，不能收回。”
36他女儿对他说：“我的父亲啊，你既向耶和华开了口，就当照你口中所说的向我行，因为耶和华已经在你的仇敌亚扪人身上为你报了仇。”
37她又对父亲说：“我只求你这一件事，给我两个月，让我和同伴下到山里，好为我的童贞哀哭。”
38耶弗他说：“你去吧！”他就让她离开两个月。她和同伴去了，在山里为她的童贞哀哭。
39过了两个月，她回到父亲那里，父亲就照所许的愿向她行了。她从来没有亲近男人。于是以色列中有个风俗，
40每年按着日期以色列的女子要去为基列人耶弗他的女儿哀哭四天。