Judges 11
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1 |
Now Jephthah the Gil'e-adite was a mighty
man of valor, and he was the son of a harlot: and Gil'e-ad
begat Jephthah.
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2 |
And Gil'e-ad'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.
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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.
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And it came to pass in process of time,
that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
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5 |
And it was so, that when the children of
Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gil'e-ad went to fetch
Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
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and they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be
our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
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And Jephthah said unto the elders of
Gil'e-ad, 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?
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8 |
And the elders of Gil'e-ad 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 Gil'e-ad.
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And Jephthah said unto the elders of
Gil'e-ad, 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?
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10 |
And the elders of Gil'e-ad said unto
Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we
do not so according to thy words.
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11 |
Then Jephthah went with the elders of
Gil'e-ad, and the people made him head and captain over them: and
Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.
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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?
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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.
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14 |
And Jephthah sent messengers again unto
the king of the children of Ammon:
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and said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah,
Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children
of Ammon:
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but when Israel came up from Egypt, and
walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to
Kadesh;
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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. Num. 20.14-21 And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab; but
he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
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18 |
Then they went along through the
wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, Num. 21.4 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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22 |
And they possessed all the coasts of the
Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even
unto Jordan. Num. 21.21-24
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So now the LORD God
of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people
Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
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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.
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And now art thou any thing better
than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab Num. 22.1-6 ? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight
against them,
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while Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her
towns, and in Aro'er 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?
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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.
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28 |
Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon
hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent
him.
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29 |
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gil'e-ad,
and Manas'seh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gil'e-ad, and from Mizpeh
of Gil'e-ad he passed over unto the children of
Ammon.
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30 |
And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the
children of Ammon into mine hands,
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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.
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32 |
So Jephthah passed over unto the children
of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
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33 |
And he smote them from Aro'er, 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.
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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.
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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. Num. 30.2
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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,
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that the daughters of Israel went
yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gil'e-adite four days
in a year.
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