English Bible Presentation Sharing - Judges Book, chapter 11, verse 23 in Ncv Version

Judges 11 : 1 (NCV)

Jephthah was a strong soldier from Gilead. His father was named Gilead, and his mother was a prostitute.

Judges 11 : 2 (NCV)

Gilead's wife had several sons. When they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave his home, saying to him, "You will not get any of our father's property, because you are the son of another woman."

Judges 11 : 3 (NCV)

So Jephthah ran away from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. There some worthless men began to follow him.

Judges 11 : 4 (NCV)

After a time the Ammonites fought against Israel.

Judges 11 : 5 (NCV)

When the Ammonites made war against Israel, the older leaders of Gilead went to Jephthah to bring him back from Tob.

Judges 11 : 6 (NCV)

They said to him, "Come and lead our army so we can fight the Ammonites."

Judges 11 : 7 (NCV)

But Jephthah said to them, "Didn't you hate me? You forced me to leave my father's house. Why are you coming to me now that you are in trouble?"

Judges 11 : 8 (NCV)

The older leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "It is because of those troubles that we come to you now. Please come with us and fight against the Ammonites. You will be the ruler over everyone who lives in Gilead."

Judges 11 : 9 (NCV)

Then Jephthah answered, "If you take me back to Gilead to fight the Ammonites and the Lord helps me win, I will be your ruler."

Judges 11 : 10 (NCV)

The older leaders of Gilead said to him, "The Lord is listening to everything we are saying. We promise to do all that you tell us to do."

Judges 11 : 11 (NCV)

So Jephthah went with the older leaders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander of their army. Jephthah repeated all of his words in front of the Lord at Mizpah.

Judges 11 : 12 (NCV)

Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, asking, "What have you got against Israel? Why have you come to attack our land?"

Judges 11 : 13 (NCV)

The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, "We are fighting Israel because you took our land when you came up from Egypt. You took our land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River to the Jordan River. Now give our land back to us peacefully."

Judges 11 : 14 (NCV)

Jephthah sent the messengers to the Ammonite king again.

Judges 11 : 15 (NCV)

They said: "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of the people of Moab or Ammon.

Judges 11 : 16 (NCV)

When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they went into the desert to the Red Sea and then to Kadesh.

Judges 11 : 17 (NCV)

Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Let the people of Israel go across your land.' But the king of Edom refused. We sent the same message to the king of Moab, but he also refused. So the Israelites stayed at Kadesh.

Judges 11 : 18 (NCV)

"Then the Israelites went into the desert around the borders of the lands of Edom and Moab. Israel went east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, the border of Moab. They did not cross it to go into the land of Moab.

Judges 11 : 19 (NCV)

"Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of the city of Heshbon, asking, 'Let the people of Israel pass through your land to go to our land.'

Judges 11 : 20 (NCV)

But Sihon did not trust the Israelites to cross his land. So he gathered all of his people and camped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.

Judges 11 : 21 (NCV)

"But the Lord, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and his army over to Israel. All the land of the Amorites became the property of Israel.

Judges 11 : 22 (NCV)

So Israel took all the land of the Amorites from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, from the desert to the Jordan River.

Judges 11 : 23 (NCV)

"It was the Lord, the God of Israel, who forced out the Amorites ahead of the people of Israel. So do you think you can make them leave?

Judges 11 : 24 (NCV)

Take the land that your god Chemosh has given you. We will live in the land the Lord our God has given us!

Judges 11 : 25 (NCV)

"Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel or fight with the people of Israel?

Judges 11 : 26 (NCV)

For three hundred years the Israelites have lived in Heshbon and Aroer and the towns around them and in all the cities along the Arnon River. Why have you not taken these cities back in all that time?

Judges 11 : 27 (NCV)

I have not sinned against you, but you are sinning against me by making war on me. May the Lord, the Judge, decide whether the Israelites or the Ammonites are right."

Judges 11 : 28 (NCV)

But the king of the Ammonites ignored this message from Jephthah.

Judges 11 : 29 (NCV)

Then the Spirit of the Lord entered Jephthah. Jephthah passed through Gilead and Manasseh and the city of Mizpah in Gilead to the land of the Ammonites.

Judges 11 : 30 (NCV)

Jephthah made a promise to the Lord, saying, "If you will hand over the Ammonites to me,

Judges 11 : 31 (NCV)

I will give you as a burnt offering the first thing that comes out of my house to meet me when I return from the victory. It will be the Lord's."

Judges 11 : 32 (NCV)

Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to him.

Judges 11 : 33 (NCV)

In a great defeat Jephthah struck them down from the city of Aroer to the area of Minnith, and twenty cities as far as the city of Abel Keramim. So the Ammonites were defeated by the Israelites.

Judges 11 : 34 (NCV)

When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, his daughter was the first one to come out to meet him, playing a tambourine and dancing. She was his only child; he had no other sons or daughters.

Judges 11 : 35 (NCV)

When Jephthah saw his daughter, he tore his clothes to show his sorrow. He said, "My daughter! You have made me so sad because I made a promise to the Lord, and I cannot break it!"

Judges 11 : 36 (NCV)

Then his daughter said, "Father, you made a promise to the Lord. So do to me just what you promised, because the Lord helped you defeat your enemies, the Ammonites."

Judges 11 : 37 (NCV)

She also said, "But let me do one thing. Let me be alone for two months to go to the mountains. Since I will never marry, let me and my friends go and cry together."

Judges 11 : 38 (NCV)

Jephthah said, "Go." So he sent her away for two months. She and her friends stayed in the mountains and cried for her because she would never marry.

Judges 11 : 39 (NCV)

After two months she returned to her father, and Jephthah did to her what he had promised. Jephthah's daughter never had a husband. From this came a custom in Israel that

Judges 11 : 40 (NCV)

every year the young women of Israel would go out for four days to remember the daughter of Jephthah from Gilead.