Judges:11-13

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* Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour , and he was the son of an harlot : and Gilead begat Jephthah . * And Gilead 's wife bare him sons ; and his wife 's sons grew up , and they thrust out Jephthah , and said unto him , Thou shalt not inherit in our father 's house ; for thou art the son of a strange woman . * Then Jephthah fled from his brethren , and dwelt in the land of Tob : and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah , and went out with him . * And it came to pass in process of time , that the children of Ammon made war against Israel . * And it was so , that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel , the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob : * And they said unto Jephthah , Come , and be our captain , that we may fight with the children of Ammon . * And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead , Did not ye hate me , and expel me out of my father 's house ? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress ? * And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah , Therefore we turn again to thee now , that thou mayest go with us , and fight against the children of Ammon , and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead . * And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead , If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon , and the LORD deliver them before me , shall I be your head ? * And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah , The LORD be witness between us , if we do not so according to thy words . * Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead , and the people made him head and captain over them : and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh . * And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon , saying , What hast thou to do with me , that thou art come against me to fight in my land ? * And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah , Because Israel took away my land , when they came up out of Egypt , from Arnon even unto Jabbok , and unto Jordan : now therefore restore those lands again peaceably . * And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon : * And said unto him , Thus saith Jephthah , Israel took not away the land of Moab , nor the land of the children of Ammon : * But when Israel came up from Egypt , and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea , and came to Kadesh ; * Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom , saying , Let me , I pray thee , pass through thy land : but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto . And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab : but he would not consent : and Israel abode in Kadesh . * Then they went along through the wilderness , and compassed the land of Edom , and the land of Moab , and came by the east side of the land of Moab , and pitched on the other side of Arnon , but came not within the border of Moab : for Arnon was the border of Moab . * And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites , the king of Heshbon ; and Israel said unto him , Let us pass , we pray thee , through thy land into my place . * But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast : but Sihon gathered all his people together , and pitched in Jahaz , and fought against Israel . * And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel , and they smote them : so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites , the inhabitants of that country . * And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites , from Arnon even unto Jabbok , and from the wilderness even unto Jordan . * So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel , and shouldest thou possess it ? * Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess ? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us , them will we possess . * And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor , king of Moab ? did he ever strive against Israel , or did he ever fight against them , * While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns , and in Aroer and her towns , and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon , three hundred years ? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time ? * Wherefore I have not sinned against thee , but thou doest me wrong to war against me : the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon . * Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him . * Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah , and he passed over Gilead , and Manasseh , and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead , and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon . * And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD , and said , If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands , * Then it shall be , that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me , when I return in peace from the children of Ammon , shall surely be the LORD 'S , and I will offer it up for a burnt offering . * So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them ; and the LORD delivered them into his hands . * And he smote them from Aroer , even till thou come to Minnith , even twenty cities , and unto the plain of the vineyards , with a very great slaughter . Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel . * And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house , and , behold , his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances : and she was his only child ; beside her he had neither son nor daughter . * And it came to pass , when he saw her , that he rent his clothes , and said , Alas , my daughter ! thou hast brought me very low , and thou art one of them that trouble me : for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD , and I cannot go back . * And she said unto him , My father , if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD , do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth ; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies , even of the children of Ammon . * And she said unto her father , Let this thing be done for me : let me alone two months , that I may go up and down upon the mountains , and bewail my virginity , I and my fellows . * And he said , Go . And he sent her away for two months : and she went with her companions , and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains . * And it came to pass at the end of two months , that she returned unto her father , who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed : and she knew no man . And it was a custom in Israel , * That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year . * And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together , and went northward , and said unto Jephthah , Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon , and didst not call us to go with thee ? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire . * And Jephthah said unto them , I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon ; and when I called you , ye delivered me not out of their hands . * And when I saw that ye delivered me not , I put my life in my hands , and passed over against the children of Ammon , and the LORD delivered them into my hand : wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day , to fight against me ? * Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead , and fought with Ephraim : and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim , because they said , Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites , and among the Manassites . * And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites : and it was so , that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said , Let me go over ; that the men of Gilead said unto him , Art thou an Ephraimite ? If he said , Nay ; * Then said they unto him , Say now Shibboleth : and he said Sibboleth : for he could not frame to pronounce it right . Then they took him , and slew him at the passages of Jordan : and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand . * And Jephthah judged Israel six years . Then died Jephthah the Gileadite , and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead . * And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel . * And he had thirty sons , and thirty daughters , whom he sent abroad , and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons . And he judged Israel seven years . * Then died Ibzan , and was buried at Bethlehem . * And after him Elon , a Zebulonite , judged Israel ; and he judged Israel ten years . * And Elon the Zebulonite died , and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun . * And after him Abdon the son of Hillel , a Pirathonite , judged Israel . * And he had forty sons and thirty nephews , that rode on threescore and ten ass colts : and he judged Israel eight years . * And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died , and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim , in the mount of the Amalekites . * And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD ; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years . * And there was a certain man of Zorah , of the family of the Danites , whose name was Manoah ; and his wife was barren , and bare not . * And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman , and said unto her , Behold now , thou art barren , and bearest not : but thou shalt conceive , and bear a son . * Now therefore beware , I pray thee , and drink not wine nor strong drink , and eat not any unclean thing : * For , lo , thou shalt conceive , and bear a son ; and no razor shall come on his head : for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb : and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines . * Then the woman came and told her husband , saying , A man of God came unto me , and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God , very terrible : but I asked him not whence he was , neither told he me his name : * But he said unto me , Behold , thou shalt conceive , and bear a son ; and now drink no wine nor strong drink , neither eat any unclean thing : for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death . * Then Manoah intreated the LORD , and said , O my Lord , let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us , and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born . * And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah ; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field : but Manoah her husband was not with her . * And the woman made haste , and ran , and shewed her husband , and said unto him , Behold , the man hath appeared unto me , that came unto me the other day . * And Manoah arose , and went after his wife , and came to the man , and said unto him , Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman ? And he said , I am . * And Manoah said , Now let thy words come to pass . How shall we order the child , and how shall we do unto him ? * And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah , Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware . * She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine , neither let her drink wine or strong drink , nor eat any unclean thing : all that I commanded her let her observe . * And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD , I pray thee , let us detain thee , until we shall have made ready a kid for thee . * And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah , Though thou detain me , I will not eat of thy bread : and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering , thou must offer it unto the LORD . For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD . * And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD , What is thy name , that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour ? * And the angel of the LORD said unto him , Why askest thou thus after my name , seeing it is secret ? * So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering , and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD : and the angel did wondrously ; and Manoah and his wife looked on . * For it came to pass , when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar , that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar . And Manoah and his wife looked on it , and fell on their faces to the ground . * But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife . Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD . * And Manoah said unto his wife , We shall surely die , because we have seen God . * But his wife said unto him , If the LORD were pleased to kill us , he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands , neither would he have shewed us all these things , nor would as at this time have told us such things as these . * And the woman bare a son , and called his name Samson : and the child grew , and the LORD blessed him . * And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol . * And Samson went down to Timnath , and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines .

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