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The Eighth Judge: Jephthah Versus the Ammonites
11 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a powerful warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 Gilead’s wife also bore sons for him, and when the wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away. They said to him, “You will not share the inheritance with our father’s household, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from the presence of his brothers. He lived in the Land of Tob, and a gang of worthless men gathered around him, and they went out on raids with him.
Jephthah and Gilead
4 Sometime later, the people of Ammon waged war against Israel. 5 No sooner did the Ammonites wage war against the Israelites than the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back from Tob. 6 They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, and we will wage war against the Ammonites.”
7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me out of the house of my father? So why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?”
8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is true, but now we have returned to you. Go with us and wage war against the Ammonites, and you will be the head over us and over everyone who lives in Gilead.”
9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to wage war against the Ammonites, and if the Lord hands them over to me, will I really become your head?”
10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “May the Lord be a witness between us if we do not do just as you have said.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him head and chief over them. Jephthah repeated all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.
Jephthah’s Negotiations With the Ammonites
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites. They said, “What is the problem between me and you? Why have you come against me to wage war against my land?”
13 The king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah’s messengers, “The problem is that Israel took my land when they came up from Egypt, my land between the Arnon and the Jabbok and extending to the Jordan. So now return the land peacefully.”
14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites. 15 This is what he said to the king:
This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of Ammon. 16 Instead, when they came up from Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and they came to Kadesh. 17 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please, let me cross over your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. In the same way Israel sent messengers to the king of Moab, but the king of Moab also was not willing, so Israel returned to Kadesh.
18 Then Israel made their way through the wilderness on a route that circled around the outside of the land of Edom and the land of Moab. After they had traveled along the eastern side of the land of Moab, they camped on the north side of the Arnon. So they did not cross the border of Moab, for the Arnon forms the border of Moab.
19 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, “Please let us cross over your land to our destination.” 20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to cross his territory. Instead, Sihon gathered all his troops, and they camped at Jahaz and waged war against Israel.
21 Then the Lord God of Israel gave Sihon and his whole army into the hand of Israel, and Israel struck Sihon down. Israel took possession of the land of the Amorites who had been living in that land. 22 In this way Israel took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan.
23 The Lord, the God of Israel, has taken possession of the land of the Amorites for the sake of his people Israel—and now you want to take possession of it! 24 Shouldn’t you possess whatever Chemosh your god gives to you, but we should possess everything that the Lord our God takes for us to possess? 25 Also now, are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he have a valid quarrel with Israel? Did he have a reason to wage war against them?[a] 26 When Israel was living in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years, why didn’t you take the land back at that time? 27 As for me, I have not sinned against you. You are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, render a verdict today between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.
28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the message that Jephthah sent him.
Jephthah’s Battle With Ammon and His Vow
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh. Then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went out against the Ammonites.
30 Jephthah had made a vow to the Lord. He said, “If you indeed give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whoever or whatever[b] comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites will belong to the Lord, and I will offer it up as a whole burnt offering.”
32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to wage war against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33 Jephthah struck them down from Aroer all the way to the vicinity of Minnith, twenty cities, as far as Abel Keramim—a great slaughter. Thus the Ammonites were humbled before the people of Israel.
34 But when Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to greet him with drums and dancing! She was his one and only child. Besides her, he had no son or daughter. 35 So, as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothing and cried out, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have become a source of misery for me. I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take it back!”
36 She said to him, “My father, since you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me exactly what came out of your mouth, since the Lord has carried out vengeance for you on your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 She also said to her father, “Do this one thing for me: Give me two months reprieve, so that I may go out into the mountains and weep for my virginity—I and my friends.”
38 Her father said, “Go,” and he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went and wept over her virginity there on the mountains. 39 When the two months came to an end, she returned to her father, and he carried out the vow that he had made regarding her. She never was intimate with a man.
This became a custom in Israel: 40 From year to year the daughters of Israel go out to hold a memorial service for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days each year.
Jephthah’s Battle With Ephraim
12 At that time the men of Ephraim were called to arms. They crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to wage war against the Ammonites, but you did not invite us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you in it.”
2 Jephthah said to them, “I was a man involved in a bitter dispute—I and my people against the Ammonites. I called you out to arms, but you did not rescue me from their hand. 3 When I saw that you were not coming to rescue me, I took my life into my hands. I crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. So why have you come up against me this day to wage war against me?”
4 So Jephthah summoned all the men of Gilead and waged war against Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck down Ephraim, because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are nothing but renegades[c] from Ephraim and Manasseh.”
5 The men of Gilead captured the fords across the Jordan that led to Ephraim. Whenever an Ephraimite fleeing from the battle said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 6 they said to him, “Please say, ‘Shibboleth.’” But if he instead said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce the word correctly,[d] they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time, forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.
7 Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried among the cities of Gilead.
The Ninth Judge: Ibzan
8 After him Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He sent the thirty daughters outside his clan for marriage, and for his sons he brought in thirty wives from outside his clan. He judged Israel for seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died, and he was buried at Bethlehem.
The Tenth Judge: Elon
11 After him Elon from Zebulun judged Israel. He judged Israel for ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
The Eleventh Judge: Abdon
13 After him Abdon son of Hillel from Pirathon judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years. 15 Then Abdon son of Hillel from Pirathon died, and he was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
Christ, the Word, Becomes Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made. 4 In him was[a] life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[b] it.
6 There was a man, sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as an eyewitness to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
9 The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to what was his own, yet his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and dwelled[c] among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testified about him. He cried out, “This was the one I spoke about when I said, ‘The one coming after me outranks me because he existed before me.’” 16 For[d] out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son,[e] who is close to the Father’s side, has made him known.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
19 This is the testimony John gave when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites[f] to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed and did not deny. He confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “Who are you then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
“No,” he answered.
22 Then they asked him, “Who are you? Tell us so we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’[g] just as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24 They had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 So they asked John, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John answered. “Among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one coming after me,[h] whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
28 These things happened in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Psalm 101
The Good Ruler
Heading
By David. A psalm.
The Righteousness of the Lord
1 I will sing about your mercy and justice.
To you, O Lord, I will make music.
The Righteousness of the King
2 I will act wisely, following the way that is honest.
When will you come to me?
Within my palace I will conduct myself with integrity.[a]
Righteousness in His Court
3 I will not tolerate an evil[b] cause in my sight.
I hate unfaithfulness and apostasy.[c]
It will not stick to me.
4 A perverted heart shall be kept far from me.
I will not acknowledge evil.
5 I will silence anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.
I cannot tolerate anyone who has arrogant eyes and a proud heart.
6 My eyes will watch for the faithful in the land,
so that they can be seated with me.
Those who walk in the way of integrity will serve as my ministers.
7 Anyone who practices deceit will not sit inside my palace.
Anyone who is a liar will not stand in my sight.
8 Every morning I will silence all the wicked in the land,
in order to cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.