Old/New Testament
Jephthah
11 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.[a] 2 Gilead’s wife also bore for him sons; and the sons of his wife grew up and drove Jephthah away, and they said to him, “You will not inherit the house of our father because you are the son of another woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from the presence of his brothers, and he lived in the land of Tob. And outlaws[b] gathered around Jephthah and went with him.
4 After a time the Ammonites[c] made war with Israel. 5 When the Ammonites[d] made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, so that we may make war against the Ammonites.”[e] 7 Jephthah said to the elders, “Did you not shun me and drive me out from the house of my father? Why do you come to me now when you have trouble?” 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That being so, we have now returned to you, that you may go with us to fight[f] against the Ammonites[g] and become for us as head of all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to fight[h] against the Ammonites,[i] and Yahweh gives them over to me,[j] will I be your head?” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh will be a witness[k] between us; we will act according to your word.” 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 Yahweh at Mizpah.
12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites,[l] saying, “What is between you and me that you have come to me to make war against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites[m] said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel took my land from the Arnon up to the Jabbok and the Jordan when they came up from Egypt; so then, restore it peacefully.” 14 Once again Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites,[n] 15 and he said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,[o] 16 because when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea[p] and went to Kadesh. 17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us cross through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel stayed in Kadesh. 18 Then they traveled through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and Moab, and came to the east[q] side of the land of Moab, and they[r] encamped beyond the Arnon; and they did not go into the territory of Moab because the Arnon was the border of Moab. 19 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites,[s] king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us cross through your land to our country.’[t] 20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to cross through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people and then encamped at Jahaz; and he made war with Israel. 21 And Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; and Israel occupied all the land of the Amorites[u] inhabiting that land. 22 They occupied all the territory of the Amorites[v] from the Arnon up to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness up to the Jordan. 23 So then Yahweh, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites[w] from before his people Israel, and you want to possess it? 24 Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gave you to possess? Whoever Yahweh our God has driven out before us, we will possess it. 25 So then, are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel, or did he ever make war against them? 26 When Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the towns that are along the Arnon,[x] for three hundred years,[y] why did you not recover them at that time? 27 I have not sinned against you; but you are the one who is doing wrong by making war against me. Let Yahweh judge[z] today between the Israelites[aa] and the Ammonites.”[ab] 28 But the king of the Ammonites[ac] did not listen to the message that Jephthah sent to him.
Jephthah Makes a Vow
29 And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through to the Ammonites.[ad] 30 And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, and he said, “If indeed you will give the Ammonites[ae] into my hand, 31 whatever[af] comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the Ammonites[ag] will be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it as a burnt offering.” 32 And Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites[ah] to make war against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand. 33 And he defeated them with a very great blow, from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns,[ai] up to Abel Keramim. And the Ammonites[aj] were subdued before the Israelites.[ak]
34 Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She was his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her. 35 And the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. I made an oath[al] to Yahweh, and I cannot take it back.” 36 She said to him, “My father, you made an oath[am] to Yahweh. Do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh gave vengeance to you against your enemies, the Ammonites.”[an] 37 And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months so that I may go wander[ao] on the mountains and lament over my virginity, I and my companions. 38 And he said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains. 39 At the end of the two months she returned to her father, and he did to her according to his vow; and she did not sleep with a man.[ap] And it became an annual custom in Israel 40 for the daughters of Israel to go and lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for forty days of the year.
Tribal Conflict Between Gilead and Ephraim
12 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over and make war against the Ammonites,[aq] and why did you not call us to go with you? We will burn down your house over you with fire.” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were engaged in great conflict with the Ammonites;[ar] I called you, but you did not deliver me from their hand. 3 I saw that you would not deliver us; I risked my own life,[as] and I crossed over to the Ammonites,[at] and Yahweh gave them into my hand. Why have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4 Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and he made war with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5 Then Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan from Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” 6 they said to him, “Please say Shibboleth,” and if he said, “Sibboleth”—because he could not pronounce it[au] correctly—they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.
7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon
8 After him Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons. He gave his thirty daughters away in marriage outside his clan and brought in from outside thirty young women for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years. 10 Then[av] Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. 12 Then[aw] Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons that rode on seventy male donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years. 15 Then[ax] Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim in the hill country of the Amalekites.[ay]
Plucking Grain on the Sabbath
6 Now it happened that on a Sabbath he went through the grain fields, and his disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them[a] in their[b] hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath? 3 And Jesus answered and[c] said to them, “Have you not read this, what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry— 4 how he entered into the house of God and took the bread of the presentation, which it is not permitted to eat (except the priests alone), and[d] ate it[e] and gave it[f] to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
A Man with a Withered Hand Healed
6 Now it happened that on another Sabbath he entered into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there, and his right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and the Pharisees were watching closely[g] to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, in order that they could find a reason[h] to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up and stand in the middle,” and he got up and[i] stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you whether it is permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?”[j] 10 And after[k] looking around at them all, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand,” and he did, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury, and began discussing[l] with one another what they might do to Jesus.
The Selection of the Twelve Apostles
12 Now it happened that in these days he went away to the mountain to pray, and was spending the whole night in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he summoned his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he also named apostles: 14 Simon (whom he also named Peter) and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
The Sermon on the Plain: The Beatitudes
17 And he came down with them and[m] stood on a level place, and a large crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all of Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast district of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled by unclean spirits were cured. 19 And the whole crowd was seeking to touch him, because power was going out from him and healing them all.
20 And he lifted up his eyes to his disciples and[n] said,
“Blessed are the poor,
because yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are those who are hungry now,
because you will be satisfied.
Blessed are those who weep now,
Because you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For their fathers used to do the same things to the prophets.
The Sermon on the Plain: Woes
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
because you have received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are satisfied now,
because you will be hungry.
Woe, you who laugh now,
because you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe whenever all people speak well of you,
for their fathers used to do the same things to the false prophets.
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