¹⁸ The commanders of the people of Gilead said to one another, “Who will begin the fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”^(A)

¹¹ So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them, and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.^(A)

²⁵ The Israelites said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. The king will greatly enrich the man who kills him and will give him his daughter and make his family free in Israel.”^(A)

⁷ Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his town in Gilead.^[a](A)

⁵ And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶ They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, so that we may fight with the Ammonites.” ⁷ But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Are you not the very ones who rejected me and drove me out of my father’s house? So why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?” ⁸ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Nevertheless, we have now turned back to you, so that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites and become head over us, over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”^(A)

Israel’s Failure to Complete the Conquest of Canaan

1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”^(A)