1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor , and he was the son of a harlot : and Gilead begat Jephthah . 2And Gilead ’s wife bare him sons ; and when his wife’s sons grew up , they drove out Jephthah , and said unto him , Thou shalt not inherit in our father ’s house ; for thou art the son of another woman . 3Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob : and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah , and they went out with him . 4And it came to pass after a while , that the children of Ammon made war against Israel . 5And 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 ; 6and they said unto Jephthah , Come and be our chief , that we may fight with the children of Ammon . 7And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead , Did not ye hate me , and drive me out of my father’s house ? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress ? 8And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah , Therefore are we turned again to thee now , that thou mayest go with us , and fight with the children of Ammon ; and thou shalt be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead . 9And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead , If ye bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon , and Jehovah deliver them before me , shall I be your head ? 10And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah , Jehovah shall be witness between us ; surely according to thy word so will we do . 11Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead , and the people made him head and chief over them : and Jephthah spake all his words before Jehovah in Mizpah .
Jephthah's Vow
12And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon , saying, What hast thou to do with me , that thou art come unto me to fight against my land? 13And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah , Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt , from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok , and unto the Jordan : now therefore restore those lands again peaceably . 14And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon ; 15and he said unto him , Thus saith Jephthah : Israel took not away the land of Moab , nor the land of the children of Ammon ; 16but when they came up from Egypt , and Israel went through the wilderness unto the Red Sea , and came to Kadesh ; 17then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me , I pray thee , pass through thy land; but the king of Edom hearkened not . And in like manner he sent unto the king of Moab ; but he would not : and Israel abode in Kadesh . 18Then they went through the wilderness , and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab , and came by the east side of the land of Moab , and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they came not within the border of Moab , for the Arnon was the border of Moab . 19And 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 unto my place . 20But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his border ; but Sihon gathered all his people together , and encamped in Jahaz , and fought against Israel . 21And Jehovah , the 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. 22And they possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok , and from the wilderness even unto the Jordan . 23So now Jehovah , the God of Israel , hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel , and shouldest thou possess them ? 24Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess ? So whomsoever Jehovah our God hath dispossessed from before us , them will we possess . 25And now art thou anything better than Balak the son of Zippor , king of Moab ? did he ever strive against Israel , or did he ever fight against them ? 26While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its towns , and in Aroer and its towns , and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years ; wherefore did ye not recover them within that time ? 27I therefore have not sinned against thee , but thou doest me wrong to war against me : Jehovah , the Judge , be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon . 28Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him .
The Tragic Fulfillment of the Vow
29Then the Spirit of Jehovah 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 . 30And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah , and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand , 31then it shall be , that whatsoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me , when I return in peace from the children of Ammon , it shall be Jehovah ’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering. 32So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them ; and Jehovah delivered them into his hand . 33And he smote them from Aroer until thou come to Minnith , even twenty cities , and unto Abel-cheramim, with a very great slaughter . So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel . 34And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house ; and , behold , his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances : and she was his only child ; besides her he had neither son nor daughter . 35And 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 Jehovah , and I cannot go back . 36And she said unto him , My father , thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah ; do unto me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth , forasmuch as Jehovah hath taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies, even on the children of Ammon . 37And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me : let me alone two months , that I may depart and go down upon the mountains , and bewail my virginity , I and my companions. 38And he said, Go . And he sent her away for two months : and she departed , she and her companions , and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains . 39And 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 not man . And it was a custom in Israel , 40that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year .