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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Judges 11 ISV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/judges/11.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/judges/11-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ISV</a> > Judges 11</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../judges/10.htm" title="Judges 10">◄</a> Judges 11 <a href="../judges/12.htm" title="Judges 12">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">International Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/isv/esv/judges/11.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Jephthah, Israel’s Eighth Judge</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant soldier, but he was also the son of a prostitute and Jephthah’s father Gilead. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Gilead’s wife bore two sons through him, but when his wife’s sons grew up, they expelled Jephthah and declared to him, “You won’t have an inheritance in this<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:2 Lit. in our father’s">a</a></span> house, since you’re the son of a different woman.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>So Jephthah escaped from his brothers and lived in the territory of Tob, where worthless men gathered themselves around him and went out on raiding parties with him.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Later on, the Ammonites attacked Israel. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>When this happened,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:5 Lit. When the Ammonites attacked Israel">b</a></span> the elders of Gilead went to the territory of Tob to find Jephthah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>They told him, “Come and be our commander so we can fight the Ammonites!”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>But Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Weren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me out of my father’s house? And you come to me now that you’re in trouble?”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>So the elders of Gilead told Jephthah, “Well, we’re coming back to you now so you can accompany us, fight the Ammonites, and become the head of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Then Jephthah asked the elders of Gilead, “If you all send me to fight against the Ammonites and the LORD hands them over right in front of me, will I really become your head?”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>The elders of Gilead responded to Jephthah, “May the Lord serve<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:10 Lit. hear">c</a></span> as a witness that we’re making this agreement between ourselves to do as we’ve said.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him head and military commander over them. Jephthah uttered everything he had to say with the solemnity of an oath<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:11 Lit. uttered all his words">d</a></span> in the LORD’s presence at Mizpah.</p> <p class="heading">Jephthah’s Dialogue with the Ammonites</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Afterwards, Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to ask him, “What’s your dispute between us that prompted you to come and attack my land?”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “We’re here<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:13 The Heb. lacks We’re here">e</a></span> because Israel took away my land from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and as far as the Jordan River when they came up from Egypt! So restore it as a gesture of good will.”<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:13 Lit. restore them in peace">f</a></span> </p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>But Jephthah sent additional messengers again to the king of the Ammonites <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>and they informed him, “This is Jephthah’s response:</p> <p class="doubleindent margintop">‘Israel didn’t seize the land of Moab nor the land of the Ammonites. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Here’s what happened:<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:16 Lit. Because">g</a></span> When Israel came up from Egypt, passed through the desert to the Red<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:16 Lit. Reed">h</a></span> Sea, and arrived at Kadesh, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Israel sent a delegation to the king of Edom and asked him, “Please let us pass through your territory.”</p> <p class="doubleindent">‘But the king of Edom wouldn’t listen. So they also sent word to the king of Moab, but he wouldn’t consent, either. So Israel stayed at Kadesh. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Then they went through the desert, circumventing the territory belonging to Edom and Moab. They encamped on the other side of the Arnon River, but never entered the territory of Moab because the Arnon River is the border of Moab.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>‘Then Israel sent a delegation to Sihon, king of the Amorites and king of Heshbon. Israel requested of him, “Please let us pass through your territory to our place.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his territory, so he assembled his entire army, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>The LORD God of Israel handed Sihon and his entire army into the control of Israel, and defeated them. As a result, Israel took control over the entire land of the Amorites, who were living in that country. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>They took possession of the entire territory of the Amorites from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and from the desert as far as the Jordan River.</p> <p class="doubleindent marginbot"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>‘Now then, since the LORD God of Israel expelled the Amorites right in front of his people Israel, are you going to control their territory? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Don’t you control what your god Chemosh gives you? In the same way, we’ll take control of whomever the LORD our God has driven out in front of us. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Also ask yourselves:<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:25 Lit. And now">i</a></span> do you have a better case<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:25 Lit. are you better">j</a></span> than Zippor’s son Balak, king of Moab? Did he ever have a quarrel with Israel or ever win a<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:25 The Heb. lacks ever win a">k</a></span> fight against them? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>When Israel was living in Heshbon and its surrounding villages, in Aroer and its surrounding villages, and in all the cities that line the banks of the Arnon River these past three hundred years, why didn’t you retake them during that time? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>I haven’t sinned against you, but you are acting wrongly against me by declaring war on me. May the LORD, the Judge, sit in judgment today between the Israelis and the Ammonites.’”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>But the king of the Ammonites wouldn’t heed the message that Jephthah had sent to him.</p> <p class="heading">Jephthah’s Vow</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>The Spirit of the LORD came<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:29 Lit. was">l</a></span> on Jephthah, so he swept through Gilead and the territory of<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:29 The Heb. lacks the territory of">m</a></span> Manasseh, then swept through Mizpah in Gilead, and from Mizpah in Gilead he proceeded toward where the Ammonites were encamped. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>Jephthah made this solemn vow to the LORD: “If you truly give the Ammonites into my control, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>then if I return from the Ammonites without incident,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:31 Lit. Ammonites in peace">n</a></span> whatever comes<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:31 MT participle is masculine">o</a></span> out the doors of my house to meet me will become the LORD’s, and I will offer it<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:31 MT suffix is masculine">p</a></span> up as a burnt offering.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>Then Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites and attacked them. The LORD gave them into his control. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>He attacked them from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith—twenty cities in all<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:33 The Heb. lacks in all">q</a></span> —even as far as Abel-keramim. As a result, the Ammonites were subdued right in front of the Israelis. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>When Jephthah arrived at his home in Mizpah—surprise!—it was his daughter who came out to meet him, playing tambourines and dancing. She was his one and only child. Except for her, he had no other son or daughter. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and cried out, “Oh no! My daughter! You have terribly burdened me! You’ve joined those who are causing me trouble, because I’ve given my word<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:35 Lit. I’ve opened my mouth">r</a></span> to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:35 The Heb. lacks on it">s</a></span> </p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>She told him, “My father, you have given your word<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:36 Lit. You’ve opened your mouth">t</a></span> to the LORD. Do to me according to what has come out of your own mouth, considering that the LORD has paid back your enemies, the Ammonites.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>Then she continued talking with her father, “Do this for me: leave me alone by myself for two months. I’ll go up to the mountains and cry there because I’ll never marry.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:37 Lit. there on behalf of my virginity; i.e. terminating the genealogy of Jephthah">u</a></span> My friends and I will go.”<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:37 The Heb. lacks will go">v</a></span> </p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>So he said, “Go!” He sent her away for two months. She left with her friends and cried there on the mountains because she would never marry.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:38 Lit. there for her virginity">w</a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>Later, after the two months were concluded, she returned to her father, and he fulfilled what he had solemnly vowed—and she never married.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="11:39 Lit. she did not know a man">x</a></span> That’s how the custom arose in Israel <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/11-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>that for four days out of every year the Israeli women would go to mourn the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite in commemoration.</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="ftn"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn1"><span class="fnb">a</span> 11:2 Lit. <i>in our father’s</i><br /><span class="fnb">b</span> 11:5 Lit. <i>When the Ammonites attacked Israel</i><br /><span class="fnb">c</span> 11:10 Lit. <i>hear</i><br /><span class="fnb">d</span> 11:11 Lit. <i>uttered all his words</i><br /><span class="fnb">e</span> 11:13 The Heb. lacks <i>We’re here</i><br /><span class="fnb">f</span> 11:13 Lit. <i>restore them in peace</i><br /><span class="fnb">g</span> 11:16 Lit. <i>Because</i><br /><span class="fnb">h</span> 11:16 Lit. <i>Reed</i><br /><span class="fnb">i</span> 11:25 Lit. <i>And now</i><br /><span class="fnb">j</span> 11:25 Lit. <i>are you better</i><br /><span class="fnb">k</span> 11:25 The Heb. lacks <i>ever win a</i><br /><span class="fnb">l</span> 11:29 Lit. <i>was</i><br /><span class="fnb">m</span> 11:29 The Heb. lacks <i>the territory of</i><br /><span class="fnb">n</span> 11:31 Lit. <i>Ammonites in peace</i><br /><span class="fnb">o</span> 11:31 MT participle is masculine<br /><span class="fnb">p</span> 11:31 MT suffix is masculine<br /><span class="fnb">q</span> 11:33 The Heb. lacks <i>in all</i><br /><span class="fnb">r</span> 11:35 Lit. <i>I’ve opened my mouth</i><br /><span class="fnb">s</span> 11:35 The Heb. lacks <i>on it</i><br /><span class="fnb">t</span> 11:36 Lit. <i>You’ve opened your mouth</i><br /><span class="fnb">u</span> 11:37 Lit. <i>there on behalf of my virginity</i>; i.e. terminating the genealogy of Jephthah<br /><span class="fnb">v</span> 11:37 The Heb. lacks <i>will go</i><br /><span class="fnb">w</span> 11:38 Lit. <i>there for her virginity</i><br /><span class="fnb">x</span> 11:39 Lit. <i>she did not know a man</i><br /></span><br><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><div align="center"><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1<br />Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation<br />ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../judges/10.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Judges 10"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Judges 10" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../judges/12.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Judges 12"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Judges 12" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/judges/11-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><div align="center" style="background-color:#F2FAFF"><br /><br /><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>  <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="6710025936" data-ad-format="auto"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 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