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.
1 fuit illo tempore Iepthae Galaadites vir fortissimus atque pugnator
filius meretricis mulieris qui natus est de Galaad
2 habuit autem Galaad uxorem de qua suscepit filios
qui postquam creverant eiecerunt Iepthae dicentes
heres in domo patris nostri esse non poteris
quia de altera matre generatus es
3 quos ille fugiens atque devitans habitavit in terra Tob
congregatique sunt ad eum viri inopes et latrocinantes
et quasi principem sequebantur
4 in illis diebus pugnabant filii Ammon contra Israhel
5 quibus acriter instantibus perrexerunt maiores natu de Galaad
ut tollerent in auxilium sui Iepthae de terra Tob
6 dixeruntque ad eum
veni et esto princeps noster et pugna contra filios Ammon
7 quibus ille respondit
nonne vos estis qui odistis me et eiecistis de domo patris mei
et nunc venistis ad me necessitate conpulsi
8 dixeruntque principes Galaad ad Iepthae
ob hanc igitur causam nunc ad te venimus
ut proficiscaris nobiscum et pugnes contra filios Ammon
sisque dux omnium qui habitant in Galaad
9 Iepthae quoque dixit eis
si vere venistis ad me ut pugnem pro vobis contra filios Ammon
tradideritque eos Dominus in manus meas
ego ero princeps vester
10 qui responderunt ei
Dominus qui haec audit ipse mediator ac testis est
quod nostra promissa faciamus
11 abiit itaque Iepthae cum principibus Galaad
fecitque eum omnis populus principem sui
locutusque est Iepthae omnes sermones suos coram Domino in Maspha
12 et misit nuntios ad regem filiorum Ammon
qui ex persona sua dicerent quid mihi et tibi est
quia venisti contra me ut vastares terram meam
13 quibus ille respondit
quia tulit Israhel terram meam quando ascendit de Aegypto
a finibus Arnon usque Iaboc atque Iordanem
nunc igitur cum pace redde mihi eam
14 per quos rursum mandavit Iepthae
et imperavit eis ut dicerent regi Ammon
15 haec dicit Iepthae
non tulit Israhel terram Moab nec terram filiorum Ammon
16 sed quando de Aegypto conscenderunt
ambulavit per solitudinem usque ad mare Rubrum et venit in Cades
17 misitque nuntios ad regem Edom dicens
dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam
qui noluit adquiescere precibus eius
misit quoque et ad regem Moab
qui et ipse transitum praebere contempsit
mansit itaque in Cades
18 et circuivit ex latere terram Edom et terram Moab
venitque contra orientalem plagam terrae Moab
et castrametatus est trans Arnon
nec voluit intrare terminos Moab
Arnon quippe confinium est terrae Moab
19 misit itaque Israhel nuntios
ad Seon regem Amorreorum qui habitabat in Esebon
et dixerunt ei
dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam usque ad fluvium
20 qui et ipse Israhel verba despiciens
non dimisit eum transire per terminos suos
sed infinita multitudine congregata egressus est contra eum in Iassa
et fortiter resistebat
21 tradiditque eum Dominus in manu Israhel cum omni
exercitu suo
qui percussit eum
et possedit omnem terram Amorrei habitatoris regionis illius
22 et universos fines eius de Arnon usque Iaboc
et de solitudine usque ad Iordanem
23 Dominus ergo Deus Israhel subvertit Amorreum pugnante
contra illum populo suo Israhel
et tu nunc vis possidere terram eius
24 nonne ea quae possedit Chamos deus tuus tibi iure
debentur
quae autem Dominus Deus noster victor obtinuit
in nostram cedent possessionem
25 nisi forte melior es Balac filio Sepphor rege Moab
aut docere potes quod iurgatus sit contra Israhel
et pugnaverit contra eum
26 quando habitavit in Esebon et viculis eius
et in Aroer et villis illius
vel in cunctis civitatibus iuxta Iordanem per trecentos annos
quare tanto tempore nihil super hac repetitione temptastis
27 igitur non ego pecco in te sed tu contra me male agis
indicens mihi bella non iusta
iudicet Dominus arbiter huius diei inter Israhel et inter filios Ammon
28 noluitque adquiescere rex filiorum Ammon verbis Iepthae
quae per nuntios mandaverat
29 factus est ergo super Iepthae spiritus Domini
et circumiens Galaad et Manasse Maspha quoque Galaad
et inde transiens ad filios Ammon
30 votum vovit Domino dicens
si tradideris filios Ammon in manus meas
31 quicumque primus fuerit egressus de
foribus domus meae
mihique occurrerit revertenti cum pace a filiis Ammon
eum holocaustum offeram Domino
32 transivitque Iepthae ad filios Ammon ut pugnaret contra eos
quos tradidit Dominus in manus eius
33 percussitque ab Aroer usque dum venias in
Mennith viginti civitates
et usque ad Abel quae est vineis consita plaga magna nimis
humiliatique sunt filii Ammon a filiis Israhel
34 revertenti autem Iepthae in Maspha domum suam
occurrit unigenita filia cum tympanis et
choris
non enim habebat alios liberos
35 qua visa scidit vestimenta sua et ait
heu filia mi decepisti me et ipsa decepta es
aperui enim os meum ad Dominum et aliud facere non potero
36 cui illa respondit pater mi si aperuisti os tuum ad Dominum
fac mihi quodcumque pollicitus es
concessa tibi ultione atque victoria de hostibus tuis
37 dixitque ad patrem hoc solum mihi praesta quod deprecor
dimitte me ut duobus mensibus circumeam montes
et plangam virginitatem meam cum sodalibus meis
38 cui ille respondit vade et dimisit eam duobus mensibus
cumque abisset cum sociis ac sodalibus suis
flebat virginitatem suam in montibus
39 expletisque duobus mensibus reversa est ad patrem suum
et fecit ei sicut voverat quae ignorabat virum
exinde mos increbuit in Israhel
et consuetudo servata est
40 ut post anni circulum conveniant in unum filiae Israhel
et plangant filiam Iepthae Galaaditae diebus quattuor