1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. 2And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”

3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.

4 Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel 5and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6“Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”

7 Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”

8 They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.”

9 But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, will I really be your leader?”

10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord is our witness if we do not do as you say.”

11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the Lord at Mizpah.

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?”

13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”

14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites. 16But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.

18 Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to 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, since the Arnon was its border.

19 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’ 20But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

21 Then the Lord, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country, 22seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

23 Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it? 24Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the Lord our God has granted us. 25Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?

26 For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time? 27I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the Lord, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”

28 But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.

29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.

30 Jephthah made this vow to the Lord: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand, 31then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the Lord, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hand. 33With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.

34 And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.

35 As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the Lord and cannot take it back.”

36“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me as you have said, for the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”

38“Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months.

So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains. 39After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man.

So it has become a custom in Israel 40that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

1 Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!”

2 But Jephthah replied, “My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites, and when I called, you did not save me out of their hands. 3When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the Lord delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to fight against me?”

4 Jephthah then gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives in Ephraim, living in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”

5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim would say, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?”

If he answered, “No,” 6they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.”

If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed.

7 Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

8 After Jephthah, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9He had thirty sons, as well as thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage to men outside his clan; and for his sons he brought back thirty wives from elsewhere. Ibzan judged Israel seven years. 10Then Ibzan died, and he was buried in Bethlehem.

11 After Ibzan, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel ten years. 12Then Elon the Zebulunite died, and he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

13 After Elon, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, judged Israel. 14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years. 15Then Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, died, and he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe. 8He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

9 The true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. 11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God — 13children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”

16 From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

19 And this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, “I am not the Christ.”

21“Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet:

24 Then the Pharisees who had been sent 25asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know. 27He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

28 All this happened at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.