Judges 11 :: New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB95)

Jephthah the Ninth Judge

Jdg 11:1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a [fn]valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead [fn]was the father of Jephthah.

Jdg 11:2

Jdg 11:2Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”

Jdg 11:3

Jdg 11:3So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves [fn]about Jephthah, and they went out with him.

Jdg 11:4

Jdg 11:4It came about after a while that the sons of Ammon fought against Israel.

Jdg 11:5

Jdg 11:5When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob;

Jdg 11:6

Jdg 11:6and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.”

Jdg 11:7

Jdg 11:7Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?”

Jdg 11:8

Jdg 11:8The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Jdg 11:9

Jdg 11:9So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and the LORD gives them up [fn]to me, will I become your head?”

Jdg 11:10

Jdg 11:10The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is [fn]witness between us; surely we will do [fn]as you have said.”

Jdg 11:11

Jdg 11:11Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah.

Jdg 11:12

Jdg 11:12Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”

Jdg 11:13

Jdg 11:13The king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan; therefore, return them peaceably now.”

Jdg 11:14

Jdg 11:14But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon,

Jdg 11:15

Jdg 11:15and they said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon.

Jdg 11:16

Jdg 11:16‘For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the [fn]Red Sea and came to Kadesh,

Jdg 11:17

Jdg 11:17then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.

Jdg 11:18

Jdg 11:18‘Then they went through the wilderness and around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

Jdg 11:19

Jdg 11:19‘And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.”

Jdg 11:20

Jdg 11:20‘But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel.

Jdg 11:21

Jdg 11:21‘The LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they [fn]defeated them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

Jdg 11:22

Jdg 11:22‘So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan.

Jdg 11:23

Jdg 11:23‘Since now the LORD, the God of Israel, drove out the Amorites from before His people Israel, are you then to possess it?

Jdg 11:24

Jdg 11:24‘Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the LORD our God has driven out before us, we will possess it.

Jdg 11:25

Jdg 11:25‘Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them?

Jdg 11:26

Jdg 11:26‘While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?

Jdg 11:27

Jdg 11:27‘I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; may the LORD, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’”

Jdg 11:28

Jdg 11:28But the king of the sons of Ammon [fn]disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah's Tragic Vow

Jdg 11:29

Jdg 11:29Now the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon.

Jdg 11:30

Jdg 11:30Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand,

Jdg 11:31

Jdg 11:31then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

Jdg 11:32

Jdg 11:32So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD gave them into his hand.

Jdg 11:33

Jdg 11:33He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer [fn]to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

Jdg 11:34

Jdg 11:34When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter.

Jdg 11:35

Jdg 11:35When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have [fn]given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.”

Jdg 11:36

Jdg 11:36So she said to him, “My father, you have [fn]given your word to the LORD; do to me [fn]as you have said, since the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.”

Jdg 11:37

Jdg 11:37She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may [fn]go to the mountains and weep because of my virginity, I and my companions.”

Jdg 11:38

Jdg 11:38Then he said, “Go.” So he sent her away for two months; and she left with her companions, and wept on the mountains because of her virginity.

Jdg 11:39

Jdg 11:39At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her according to the vow which he had made; and she [fn]had no relations with a man. Thus it became a custom in Israel,

Jdg 11:40

Jdg 11:40that the daughters of Israel went yearly to [fn]commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

See the NASB95 Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NASB95 Footnotes

(11:1)

Or, mighty man of valor

Literally: begat

Literally: to

Literally: before

Literally: hearer

Literally: according to your word

(11:16)

Literally: Sea of Reeds

(11:21)

Literally: smote

(11:28)

Literally: did not listen to the words

(11:33)

Literally: even until you are coming to

(11:35)

Literally: opened my mouth

(11:36)

Literally: opened your mouth

(11:36)

Literally: according to what has proceeded from your mouth

(11:37)

Literally: go and go down on

(11:39)

Literally: knew no man

(11:40)

Literally: recount; ancient versions, lament

New American Standard Bible 1995
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For more information on this translation, see the NASB95 Preface.