Judges 11
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Now d Jephthah the Gileadite was e a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
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And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman."
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Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of f Tob, and g worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.
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After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel.
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And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of f Tob.
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And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites."
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But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?"
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And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and h be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
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Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head."
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And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, i "The Lord will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say."
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So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people j made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words k before the Lord at l Mizpah.
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Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, "What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?"
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And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, m "Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the n Arnon to the o Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably."
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Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites
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and said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: p Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,
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but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness q to the Red Sea and r came to Kadesh.
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s Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let us pass through your land,' t but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel u remained at Kadesh.
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"Then they journeyed through the wilderness and v went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and w arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and x camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.
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y Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, 'Please let us pass through your land to our country,'
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but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.
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And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country.
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And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
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So then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them?
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Will you not possess what z Chemosh your god gives you to possess? a And all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.
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Now are you any better than b Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?
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While Israel lived c in Heshbon and its villages, and d in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time?
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I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. e The Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon."
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But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.
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f Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.
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And Jephthah g made a vow to the Lord and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand,
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then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites h shall be the Lord's, and i I will offer it up for a burnt offering."
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So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand.
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And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of j Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
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Then Jephthah came to his home at k Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him l with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
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And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, m and I cannot take back my vow."
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And she said to him, "My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites."
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So she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions."
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So he said, "Go." Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains.
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And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, n who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel
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that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
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Cross References
Hebrews 11:32
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets -
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Cross References
Judges 6:12
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.
2 Kings 5:1
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 10:6
When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men.
2 Samuel 10:8
And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.
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Cross References
Judges 9:4
And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.
1 Samuel 22:2
And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.
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Cross References
Judges 11:3
Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.
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Cross References
Judges 10:18
And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 42:5
Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the Lord your God sends you to us.
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Cross References
Judges 11:6
And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.
Judges 11:8
And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
Judges 10:18
And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 10:19
But today you have rejected your God, who saves...
1 Samuel 10:25
Then Samuel told the people the rights and duti...
1 Samuel 11:15
So all the people went to Gilgal, and there the...
1 Samuel 12:7
Now therefore stand still that I may plead with...
Judges 20:1
Then all the people of Israel came out, from Da...
1 Samuel 10:17
Now Samuel called the people together to the Lo...
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Cross References
Judges 10:17
Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah.
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Cross References
Numbers 21:24 - 26
And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong.
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Cross References
Numbers 21:13
From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
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Cross References
Genesis 32:22
The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 2:9
And the Lord said to me, 'Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.
Deuteronomy 2:19
And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.
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Cross References
Numbers 14:25
Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.
Deuteronomy 1:40
But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.
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Cross References
Numbers 13:26
And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
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Cross References
Numbers 20:14
Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met:
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Cross References
Numbers 20:18 - 21
But Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.
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Cross References
Numbers 20:1
And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.
Deuteronomy 1:46
So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.
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Cross References
Numbers 21:4
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way.
Deuteronomy 2:1 - 8
Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir.
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Cross References
Numbers 21:11
And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.
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Cross References
Numbers 21:13
From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Numbers 22:36
When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border.
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Cross References
Judges 11:19 - 22
Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, 'Please let us pass through your land to our country.
Numbers 21:21 - 26
Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying.
Deuteronomy 2:26 - 37
So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying.
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Cross References
Numbers 21:29
Woe to you, O Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters captives, to an Amorite king, Sihon.
1 Kings 11:7
Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 9:5
Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Deuteronomy 18:12
For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.
Joshua 3:10
And Joshua said, "Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:2
And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
Joshua 24:9
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
Micah 6:5
O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.
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Cross References
Numbers 21:25
And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 2:36
From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The Lord our God gave all into our hands.
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Cross References
Genesis 16:5
And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!
Genesis 18:25
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?
Genesis 31:53
The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
1 Samuel 24:12
May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.
1 Samuel 24:15
May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.
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Cross References
Judges 3:10
The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.
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Cross References
Genesis 28:20
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear.
1 Samuel 1:11
And she vowed a vow and said, "O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.
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Cross References
Leviticus 27:2
Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons.
1 Samuel 1:28
Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord." And he worshiped the Lord there.
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Cross References
Psalms 66:13
I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 27:17
Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm.
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Cross References
Judges 11:11
So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.
Judges 10:17
Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah.
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Cross References
Exodus 15:20
Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.
1 Samuel 18:6
As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
Psalms 68:25
The singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines:
Jeremiah 31:4
Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
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Cross References
Numbers 30:2
If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
Ecclesiastes 5:4 - 5
When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.
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Cross References
Judges 11:31
Then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord 's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.