| Holman Christian Standard Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Jephthah the Gileadite was a great warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. | 1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. |
| 2Gilead's wife bore him sons, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You will have no inheritance in our father's house, because you are the son of another woman." | 2Gilead's wife also gave him sons. When his wife's sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, "You are not going to inherit any of our father's wealth, because you are another woman's son." |
| 3So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Then some lawless men joined Jephthah and traveled with him. | 3So Jephthah left his half-brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah's gang and traveled with him. |
| 4Some time later, the Ammonites fought against Israel. | 4It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel. |
| 5When the Ammonites made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. | 5When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back from the land of Tob. |
| 6They said to him, "Come, be our commander, and let's fight against the Ammonites." | 6They said, "Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites." |
| 7Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why then have you come to me now when you're in trouble?" | 7Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, "But you hated me and made me leave my father's house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?" |
| 8They answered Jephthah, "Since that's true, we now turn to you. Come with us, fight the Ammonites, and you will become leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead." | 8The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That may be true, but now we pledge to you our loyalty. Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader of all who live in Gilead." |
| 9So Jephthah said to them, "If you are bringing me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, I will be your leader." | 9Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, "All right! If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, I will be your leader." |
| 10The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD is our witness if we don't do as you say." | 10The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD will judge any grievance you have against us, if we do not do as you say." |
| 11So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. The people put him over themselves as leader and commander, and Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah. | 11So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement before the LORD in Mizpah. |
| 12Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, "What do you have against me that you have come to fight against me in my land?" | 12Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, "Why have you come against me to attack my land?" |
| 13The king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah's messengers, "When Israel came from Egypt, they seized my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan. Now restore it peaceably." | 13The Ammonite king said to Jephthah's messengers, "Because Israel stole my land when they came up from Egypt--from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. Now return it peaceably!" |
| 14Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites | 14Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king |
| 15to tell him, "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. | 15and said to him, "This is what Jephthah says, 'Israel did not steal the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites. |
| 16 But when they came from Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. | 16When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh. |
| 17Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let us travel through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he refused. So Israel stayed in Kadesh." | 17Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please allow us to pass through your land." But the king of Edom rejected the request. Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. So Israel stayed at Kadesh. |
| 18Then they traveled through the wilderness and around 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 did not enter into the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab." | 18Then Israel went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab's border). |
| 19Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, 'Please let us travel through your land to our country,' | 19Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, "Please allow us to pass through your land to our land." |
| 20but Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people, camped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel. | 20But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He assembled his whole army, camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. |
| 21Then the LORD God of Israel handed over Sihon and all his people to Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of the entire land of the Amorites who lived in that country. | 21The LORD God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land. |
| 22They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan." | 22They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west. |
| 23The LORD God of Israel has now driven out the Amorites before His people Israel, and will you now force us out? | 23Since the LORD God of Israel has driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them? |
| 24Isn't it true that you may possess whatever your god Chemosh drives out for you, and we may possess everything the LORD our God drives out before us? | 24You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the LORD our God has driven out before us. |
| 25Now are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them? | 25Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them? |
| 26While Israel lived 300 years in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why didn't you take them back at that time? | 26Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time? |
| 27I have not sinned against you, but you have wronged me by fighting against me. Let the LORD who is the Judge decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites." | 27I have not done you wrong, but you are doing wrong by attacking me. May the LORD, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!'" |
| 28But the king of the Ammonites would not listen to Jephthah's message that he sent him. | 28But the Ammonite king disregarded the message sent by Jephthah. |
| 29The Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah, who traveled through Gilead and Manasseh, and then through Mizpah of Gilead. He crossed over to the Ammonites from Mizpah of Gilead. | 29The LORD's spirit empowered Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. |
| 30Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: "If You will hand over the Ammonites to me, | 30Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, saying, "If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, |
| 31whatever comes out of the doors of my house to greet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it as a burnt offering." | 31then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites--he will belong to the LORD and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice." |
| 32Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD handed them over to him. | 32Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the LORD handed them over to him. |
| 33He defeated 20 of their cities with a great slaughter from Aroer all the way to the entrance of Minnith and to Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites. | 33He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith--twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. |
| 34When Jephthah went to his home in Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no other son or daughter besides her. | 34When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter. |
| 35When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "No! Not my daughter! You have devastated me! You have brought great misery on me. I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back." | 35When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, "Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! You have brought me disaster! I made an oath to the LORD, and I cannot break it." |
| 36Then she said to him, "My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD brought vengeance on your enemies, the Ammonites." | 36She said to him, "My father, since you made an oath to the LORD, do to me as you promised. After all, the LORD vindicated you before your enemies, the Ammonites." |
| 37She also said to her father, "Let me do this one thing: Let me wander two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity."" | 37She then said to her father, "Please grant me this one wish. For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity." |
| 38Go," he said. And he sent her away two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity as she wandered through the mountains. | 38He said, "You may go." He permitted her to leave for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills. |
| 39At the end of two months, she returned to her father, and he kept the vow he had made about her. And she had never been intimate with a man. Now it became a custom in Israel | 39After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. |
| 40that four days each year the young women of Israel would commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. | 40Every year Israelite women commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. |
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