1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. He was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
2Gilead's wife had sons. When his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away, saying to him, "You will not inherit anything in our father's house because you are the son of another woman."
3So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws gathered around Jephthah and went on raids with him.
4Some time later, the Ammonites waged war against Israel.
5When the Ammonites waged war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6They said to Jephthah, "Come and be our commander, so we can fight against the Ammonites."
7Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Didn't you hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?"
8The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That is why we have come back to you now. Come with us and fight against the Ammonites. You will be our leader over all the people of Gilead."
9Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back home to fight against the Ammonites, and Yahweh hands them over to me, will I really be your leader?"
10The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh will be our witness. We will certainly do what you say."
11So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah then repeated all his terms before Yahweh in Mizpah.
12Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites with this message: "What dispute do you have with me that you have come to fight against my land?"
13The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel took my land when they came out of Egypt, from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and to the Jordan River. Now, peacefully give that territory back.”
14Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the Ammonites.
15He told the king, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.
16Instead, when they came out of Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and arrived at Kadesh.
17Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom refused. In the same way, Israel sent a request to the king of Moab, but he also refused. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.
18Then they traveled through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and arrived on the east side of Moab. They camped on the other side of the Arnon River, but they did not cross into Moab’s territory, because the Arnon River was Moab’s border.
19Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel told him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our destination.’
20But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people, camped at Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
21Yahweh, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and all his people over to Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the people who lived in that country.
22They took all the Amorite territory, from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the wilderness to the Jordan River.
23So now, since Yahweh, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before his people Israel, should you now take possession of it?
24Wouldn’t you possess whatever Chemosh, your god, gives you to possess? In the same way, we will possess whoever Yahweh our God has driven out from before us.
25Are you any better than Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever fight against Israel or quarrel with them?
26Israel has lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon River for three hundred years. Why didn’t you try to get them back during that time?
27Therefore, I have not sinned against you, but you are wrong to make war against me. May Yahweh, the Judge, decide today between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”
28However, the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the message Jephthah sent him.
29Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, went through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead, he advanced toward the Ammonites.
30Jephthah made a promise to Yahweh, saying, “If you will indeed hand the Ammonites over to me,
31then whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will belong to Yahweh, and I will offer it as a burnt offering.”
32So Jephthah went to fight against the Ammonites, and Yahweh handed them over to him.
33He attacked them from Aroer as far as Minnith, taking about twenty cities, and then to Abelcheramim, causing a massive slaughter. So the Ammonites were defeated by the Israelites.
34When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She was his only child; he had no other sons or daughters.
35When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me to great despair, and you are one of those who cause me trouble; for I have made a promise to Yahweh, and I cannot go back on it."
36She said to him, "My father, you have made a promise to Yahweh; do to me exactly what you promised, because Yahweh has given you revenge on your enemies, the Ammonites."
37She also said to her father, "Allow me to do this one thing. Leave me alone for two months so I can go away into the mountains with my friends and mourn that I will remain a virgin."
38He said, "Go." He sent her away for two months, and she and her friends went and mourned her virginity in the mountains.
39At the end of two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her what he had promised in his vow. She remained a virgin. It became a custom in Israel
40that the Israelite women would go every year to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days.