Old/New Testament

Jephthah’s Valor and Vow

11 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor^[a], but he was son of a prostitute, while Gilead was Jephthah’s father. ² But Gilead’s wife bore him sons, and when the wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You won’t inherit in our father’s house, for you are a son of another woman.” ³ Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Some worthless fellows joined with Jephthah and went out with him.

⁴ Now it came about after a while that the children of Ammon fought with Israel. ⁵ When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶ They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, so we may fight the children of Ammon.”

⁷ Jephthah then said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? So why are you coming to me now that you’re in trouble?”

⁸ “Here is why we’re now turning to you,” the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah. “Come with us, fight the children of Ammon, and then you will become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

⁹ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight the children of Ammon, and Adonai gives them over to me, I should become your head!”

¹⁰ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Let Adonai be witness between us if we don’t do as you say.” ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them, after Jephthah repeated all his terms before Adonai at Mizpah.

¹² Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon saying, “What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to make war on my land?”

¹³ The king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land, when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon to the Jabbok as far as the Jordan. Now therefore, return them peaceably.”

¹⁴ But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon, ¹⁵ and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon. ¹⁶ For upon departing from Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds and came to Kadesh, ¹⁷ then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom saying, “Please, let me pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not consent. Similarly he sent word to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel, after staying at Kadesh, ¹⁸ traveled through the wilderness, around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab and they camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹ Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please, let us pass through your land to my place.” ²⁰ But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his troops, camped in Jahaz and fought against Israel. ²¹ But Adonai God of Israel gave Sihon and all his troops into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. ²² Thus they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. ²³ So now Adonai God of Israel dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel. So should you possess their land? ²⁴ Don’t you possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? Likewise, whatever Adonai our God has dispossessed from before us, this we will possess. ²⁵ Besides, are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? ²⁶ While Israel was living in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities on both sides of the Arnon for 300 years, why didn’t you try to recover them all that time? ²⁷ So I myself have not transgressed against you, yet you are doing me harm by waging war against me. May Adonai, the Judge, judge today between Bnei-Yisrael and the children of Ammon.’”

²⁸ However, the king of the children of Ammon paid no attention to the words of Jephthah that he sent him. ²⁹ Then the Ruach Adonai came upon Jephthah, so he marched through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he crossed over to the children of Ammon. ³⁰ Then Jephthah vowed a vow to Adonai and said, “If You will indeed give the children of Ammon into my hand, ³¹ then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the children of Ammon, it will be Adonai’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

³² So Jephthah crossed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them, and Adonai gave them into his hand. ³³ So he utterly defeated them from Aroer until you come to Minnith—20 towns—and as far as Abel-cheramim. So the children of Ammon were subdued before Bnei-Yisrael.

³⁴ Now when Jephthah arrived at his home in Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. Now she was his only child. Besides her he had no son or daughter. ³⁵ Upon seeing her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You made me bow down in grief—you’ve made me miserable! For I have opened my mouth to Adonai, and I cannot take it back.”^[b]

³⁶ “My father, you have opened your mouth to Adonai,” she said to him. “Do to me what proceeded from your mouth—since Adonai brought vengeance on your enemies, the children of Ammon.” ³⁷ She said further to her father, “Let this thing be done for me. Let me be alone two months, so that I may go on the mountains and mourn my virginity, I and my companions.”

³⁸ “Go!” he said. So he sent her away for two months. So she left, she and her companions, and mourned on the mountains because of her virginity. ³⁹ Then at the end of two months she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow he had made—so she was never intimate with a man. So it became a custom in Israel, ⁴⁰ that the daughters of Israel would go annually to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

12 Then the men of Ephraim were summoned and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the children of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” ² So Jephthah responded to them, “I and my people were in a bitter conflict with the children of Ammon, yet when I called you, you didn’t deliver me from their hand. ³ So when I saw that you weren’t going to deliver, I put my life in my hand and crossed over against the children of Ammon, and Adonai gave them into my hand. So why have you come up to me today, to fight me?”

⁴ Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites are just fugitives of Ephraim in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” ⁵ The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. So when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” ⁶ then they would say to him, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth,’” and he said “Sibboleth” since he could not pronounce it right, then they would seize him and slay him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of Ephraim fell.

⁷ Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the towns of Gilead. ⁸ After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹ Now he had 30 sons, and 30 daughters—he sent them outside and brought in 30 girls from outside for his sons. He judged Israel seven years, ¹⁰ then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

¹¹ Then after him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years, ¹² then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. ¹³ After him Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. ¹⁴ He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. ¹⁵ Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Shabbat in the Grain Fields

6 Now during Shabbat, Yeshua was passing through grain fields; and His disciples were picking and eating heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not permitted on Shabbat?”

³ Then answering them, Yeshua said, “Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry, and those with him? ⁴ How he entered into the house of God, took and ate the showbread which only the kohanim are permitted to eat, and even gave it to those with him?” ^{[a] 5} He said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of Shabbat.”

Shabbat Controversy at the Synagogue

⁶ On a different Shabbat, Yeshua entered the synagogue and was teaching. A man was there, whose right hand was paralyzed. ⁷ But closely watching Him were the Torah scholars and Pharisees, to see if He heals on Shabbat, so that they might find grounds to accuse Him. ⁸ But He knew their opinions and said to the man with the paralyzed hand, “Get up and stand in our midst.” And getting up, the man stood.

⁹ Yeshua said to them, “I ask you, is it permitted on Shabbat to do good or to do evil, to save or to destroy a life?” ¹⁰ Then looking around at everyone, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” The man did, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with fury and discussed among themselves what they might do to Yeshua.

Appointing the Twelve

¹² And it was during these days that Yeshua went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent all night in prayer to God. ¹³ When day came, He called His disciples, choosing from among them twelve whom He also named emissaries— ¹⁴ Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and Jacob and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ and Matthew and Thomas; Jacob the son of Alphaeus; Simon who was called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judah the son of Jacob; and Judah from Kriot, who became a traitor.

The Sermon on the Plain

¹⁷ Then Yeshua came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples and a multitude of people, from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. Even those disturbed by defiling spirits were being healed. ¹⁹ Everyone in the crowd was trying to touch Him, because power flowed from Him and He was healing them all.

²⁰ And looking up at His disciples, He said,

²³ Rejoice in that day and jump for joy! For behold, your reward is great in heaven! For their fathers used to treat the prophets the same way.”^[b]