[ Judges Chapter 11 ]
1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of
an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons, and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust
out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house,
for thou art the son of a strange woman.
3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there
were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war
against Israel.
5 And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the
elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with
the children of Ammon.
7 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me
out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in
distress?
8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee
now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and
be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to
fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall
I be your head?
10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us,
if we do not so according to thy words.
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head
and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in
Mizpeh.
12 And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying,
What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of
Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from
Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again
peaceably.
14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:
15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of
Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto
the Red sea, and came to Kadesh,
17 Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray
thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And
in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and
Israel abode in Kadesh.
18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom,
and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched
on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon
was the border of Moab.
19 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of
Heshbon, and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land
into my place.
20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered
all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand
of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the
Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto
Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
23 So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his
people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
24 Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So
whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we
possess.
25 And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab?
did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and
in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why
therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war
against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel
and the children of Ammon.
28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of
Jephthah which he sent him.
29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead,
and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he
passed over unto the children of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail
deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to
meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the
LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them, and
the LORD delivered them into his hands.
33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty
cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus
the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came
out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child,
beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said,
Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that
trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the
LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth,
forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of
the children of Ammon.
37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two
months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I
and my fellows.
38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her
companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her
father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew
no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah
the Gileadite four days in a year.
[ Judges Chapter 12 ]
1 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and
said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children
of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon
thee with fire.
2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the
children of Ammon, and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their
hands.
3 And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed
over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand:
wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?
4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with
Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites
are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.
5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it
was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over,
that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay,
6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he
could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the
passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two
thousand.
7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and
was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in
thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.
10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.
11 And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten
years.
12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of
Zebulun.
13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.
14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass
colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon
in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.
[ Judges Chapter 13 ]
1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and the
LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name
was Manoah, and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold
now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and
eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his
head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall
begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me,
and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible:
but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and now
drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child
shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
8 Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which
thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child
that shall be born.
9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again unto
the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him,
Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.
11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto
him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.
12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the
child, and how shall we do unto him?
13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman
let her beware.
14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink
wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let
her observe.
15 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee,
until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
16 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not
eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it
unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.
17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy
sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name,
seeing it is secret?
19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto
the LORD: and the angel did wonderously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.
20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar,
that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and
his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then
Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not
have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would
he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such
things as these.
24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and
the LORD blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan
between Zorah and Eshtaol.
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