rsv Judges:10-12 SEEK
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After Abim '
elech there arose to deliver Israel Tola the son of Pu '
ah ,
son of Dodo ,
a man of Is '
sachar ;
and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of E '
phraim .
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And he judged Israel twenty-three years .
Then he died ,
and was buried at Shamir .
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After him arose Ja '
ir the Gileadite ,
who judged Israel twenty-two years .
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And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty asses ;
and they had thirty cities ,
called Hav '
voth-ja '
ir to this day ,
which are in the land of Gilead .
*
And Ja '
ir died ,
and was buried in Kamon .
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And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD ,
and served the Ba '
als and the Ash '
taroth ,
the gods of Syria ,
the gods of Sidon ,
the gods of Moab ,
the gods of the Ammonites ,
and the gods of the Philistines ;
and they forsook the LORD ,
and did not serve him .
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And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel ,
and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites ,
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and they crushed and oppressed the children of Israel that year .
For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites ,
which is in Gilead .
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And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of E '
phraim ;
so that Israel was sorely distressed .
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And the people of Israel cried to the LORD ,
saying , "
We have sinned against thee ,
because we have forsaken our God and have served the Ba '
als ."
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And the LORD said to the people of Israel , "
Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites ,
from the Ammonites and from the Philistines ?
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The Sido '
nians also ,
and the Amal '
ekites ,
and the Ma '
onites ,
oppressed you ;
and you cried to me ,
and I delivered you out of their hand .
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Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods ;
therefore I will deliver you no more .
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Go and cry to the gods whom you have chosen ;
let them deliver you in the time of your distress ."
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And the people of Israel said to the LORD , "
We have sinned ;
do to us whatever seems good to thee ;
only deliver us ,
we pray thee ,
this day ."
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So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD ;
and he became indignant over the misery of Israel .
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Then the Ammonites were called to arms ,
and they encamped in Gilead ;
and the people of Israel came together ,
and they encamped at Mizpah .
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And the people ,
the leaders of Gilead ,
said one to another , "
Who is the man that will begin to fight against the Ammonites ?
He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead ."
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Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior ,
but he was the son of a harlot .
Gilead was the father of Jephthah .
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And Gilead '
s wife also bore him sons ;
and when his wife '
s sons grew up ,
they thrust Jephthah out ,
and said to him , "
You shall not inherit in our father '
s house ;
for you are the son of another woman ."
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Then Jephthah fled from his brothers ,
and dwelt in the land of Tob ;
and worthless fellows collected round Jephthah ,
and went raiding with him .
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After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel .
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And when the Ammonites made war against Israel ,
the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob ;
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and they said to Jephthah , "
Come and be our leader ,
that we may fight with the Ammonites ."
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But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead , "
Did you not hate me ,
and drive me out of my father '
s house ?
Why have you come to me now when you are in trouble ?"
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And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah , "
That is why we have turned to you now ,
that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites ,
and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead ."
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Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead , "
If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites ,
and the LORD gives them over to me ,
I will be your head ."
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And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah , "
The LORD will be witness between us ;
we will surely do as you say ."
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So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead ,
and the people made him head and leader over them ;
and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah .
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Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said , "
What have you against me ,
that you have come to me to fight against my land ?"
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And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah , "
Because Israel on coming from Egypt took away my land ,
from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan ;
now therefore restore it peaceably ."
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And Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the Ammonites
*
and said to him , "
Thus says Jephthah :
Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites ,
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but when they came up from Egypt ,
Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh .
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Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom ,
saying , `
Let us pass ,
we pray ,
through your land ';
but the king of Edom would not listen .
And they sent also to the king of Moab ,
but he would not consent .
So Israel remained at Kadesh .
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Then they journeyed through the wilderness ,
and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab ,
and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab ,
and camped on the other side of the Arnon ;
but they did not enter the territory of Moab ,
for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab .
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Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites ,
king of Heshbon ;
and Israel said to him , `
Let us pass ,
we pray ,
through your land to our country .'
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But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory ;
so Sihon gathered all his people together ,
and encamped at Jahaz ,
and fought with Israel .
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And the LORD ,
the God of Israel ,
gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel ,
and they defeated them ;
so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites ,
who inhabited that country .
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And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan .
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So then the LORD ,
the God of Israel ,
dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel ;
and are you to take possession of them ?
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Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess ?
And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us ,
we will possess .
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Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor ,
king of Moab ?
Did he ever strive against Israel ,
or did he ever go to war with them ?
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While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages ,
and in Aro '
er and its villages ,
and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon ,
three hundred years ,
why did you not recover them within that time ?
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I therefore have not sinned against you ,
and you do me wrong by making war on me ;
the LORD ,
the Judge ,
decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon ."
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But the king of the Ammonites did not heed the message of Jephthah which he sent to him .
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Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah ,
and he passed through Gilead and Manas '
seh ,
and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead ,
and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites .
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And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD ,
and said , "
If thou wilt give the Ammonites into my hand ,
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then whoever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me ,
when I return victorious from the Ammonites ,
shall be the LORD '
s ,
and I will offer him up for a burnt offering ."
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So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them ;
and the LORD gave them into his hand .
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And he smote them from Aro '
er to the neighborhood of Minnith ,
twenty cities ,
and as far as Abel-keramim ,
with a very great slaughter .
So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel .
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Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah ;
and behold ,
his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances ;
she was his only child ;
beside her he had neither son nor daughter .
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And when he saw her ,
he rent his clothes ,
and said , "
Alas ,
my daughter !
you have brought me very low ,
and you have become the cause of great trouble to me ;
for I have opened my mouth to the LORD ,
and I cannot take back my vow ."
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And she said to him , "
My father ,
if you have opened your mouth to the LORD ,
do to me according to what has gone forth from your mouth ,
now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies ,
on the Ammonites ."
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And she said to her father , "
Let this thing be done for me ;
let me alone two months ,
that I may go and wander on the mountains ,
and bewail my virginity ,
I and my companions ."
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And he said , "
Go ."
And he sent her away for two months ;
and she departed ,
she and her companions ,
and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains .
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And at the end of two months ,
she returned to her father ,
who did with her according to his vow which he had made .
She had never known a man .
And it became a custom in Israel
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that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year .
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The men of E '
phraim were called to arms ,
and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah , "
Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites ,
and did not call us to go with you ?
We will burn your house over you with fire ."
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And Jephthah said to them , "
I and my people had a great feud with the Ammonites ;
and when I called you ,
you did not deliver me from their hand .
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And when I saw that you would not deliver me ,
I took my life in my hand ,
and crossed over against the Ammonites ,
and the LORD gave them into my hand ;
why then have you come up to me this day ,
to fight against me ?"
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Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with E '
phraim ;
and the men of Gilead smote E '
phraim ,
because they said , "
You are fugitives of E '
phraim ,
you Gileadites ,
in the midst of E '
phraim and Manas '
seh ."
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And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the E '
phraimites .
And when any of the fugitives of E '
phraim said , "
Let me go over ,"
the men of Gilead said to him , "
Are you an E '
phraimite ?"
When he said , "
No ,"
*
they said to him , "
Then say Shibboleth ,"
and he said , "
Sibboleth ,"
for he could not pronounce it right ;
then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan .
And there fell at that time forty-two thousand of the E '
phraimites .
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Jephthah judged Israel six years .
Then Jephthah the Gileadite died ,
and was buried in his city in Gilead .
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After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel .
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He had thirty sons ;
and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan ,
and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons .
And he judged Israel seven years .
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Then Ibzan died ,
and was buried at Bethlehem .
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After him Elon the Zeb '
ulunite judged Israel ;
and he judged Israel ten years .
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Then Elon the Zeb '
ulunite died ,
and was buried at Ai '
jalon in the land of Zeb '
ulun .
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After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pira '
thonite judged Israel .
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He had forty sons and thirty grandsons ,
who rode on seventy asses ;
and he judged Israel eight years .
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Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pira '
thonite died ,
and was buried at Pira '
thon in the land of E '
phraim ,
in the hill country of the Amal '
ekites .
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And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD ;
and the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years .