Judges 11
11Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute.H3316H1569H1368H2428H1121H802H2181H1568H3205H33162Gilead's wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. "You will not get any of our father's inheritance," they said, "for you are the son of a prostitute."H1568H802H3205H1121H802H1121H1431H1644H3316H559H5157H1H1004H1121H312H8023So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him.H3316H1272H6440H251H3427H776H2897H3950H7386H582H3316H33184At about this time, the Ammonites began their war against Israel.H3117H1121H5983H3898H34785When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. The elders said,H1121H5983H3898H3478H2205H1568H3212H3947H3316H776H28976"Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammonites!"H559H3316H3212H7101H3898H1121H59837But Jephthah said to them, "Aren't you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you're in trouble?"H3316H559H2205H1568H8130H1644H1H1004H935H68878"Because we need you," the elders replied. "If you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead."H2205H1568H559H3316H7725H1980H3898H1121H5983H7218H3427H15689Jephthah said to the elders, "Let me get this straight. If I come with you and if the LORD gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?"H3316H559H2205H1568H7725H3898H1121H5983H3068H5414H6440H721810"The LORD is our witness," the elders replied. "We promise to do whatever you say."H2205H1568H559H3316H3068H8085H6213H169711So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of the LORD, Jephthah repeated what he had said to the elders.H3316H3212H2205H1568H5971H7760H7218H7101H3316H1696H1697H6440H3068H470912Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, asking, "Why have you come out to fight against my land?"H3316H7971H4397H4428H1121H5983H559H935H3898H77613The king of Ammon answered Jephthah's messengers, "When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land peaceably."H4428H1121H5983H559H4397H3316H3478H3947H776H5927H4714H769H2999H3383H7725H796514Jephthah sent this message back to the Ammonite king.H3316H7971H4397H3254H4428H1121H598315"This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not steal any land from Moab or Ammon.H559H559H3316H3478H3947H776H4124H776H1121H598316When the people of Israel arrived at Kadesh on their journey from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea,H3478H5927H4714H3212H4057H5488H3220H935H694617they sent messengers to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through his land. But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Moab for similar permission, but he wouldn't let them pass through either. So the people of Israel stayed in Kadesh.H3478H7971H4397H4428H123H559H5674H776H4428H123H8085H7971H4428H4124H14H3478H3427H694618"Finally, they went around Edom and Moab through the wilderness. They traveled along Moab's eastern border and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they never once crossed the Arnon River into Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.H3212H4057H5437H776H123H776H4124H935H4217H8121H776H4124H2583H5676H769H935H1366H4124H769H1366H412419"Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination.H3478H7971H4397H5511H4428H567H4428H2809H3478H559H5674H776H5704H472520But King Sihon didn't trust Israel to pass through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Jahaz and attacked them.H5511H539H3478H5674H1366H5511H622H5971H622H2583H3096H3898H347821But the LORD, the God of Israel, gave his people victory over King Sihon. So Israel took control of all the land of the Amorites, who lived in that region,H3068H430H3478H5414H5511H5971H3027H3478H5221H3478H3423H776H567H3427H77622from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the eastern wilderness to the Jordan.H3423H1366H567H769H2999H4057H338323"So you see, it was the LORD, the God of Israel, who took away the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should we give it back to you?H3068H430H3478H3423H567H6440H5971H3478H342324You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the LORD our God gives us.H3423H3645H430H3423H3068H430H3423H6440H342325Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he try to make a case against Israel for disputed land? Did he go to war against them?H2896H1111H1121H6834H4428H4124H7378H7378H3478H3898H389826"Israel has been living here for 300 years, inhabiting Heshbon and its surrounding settlements, all the way to Aroer and its settlements, and in all the towns along the Arnon River. Why have you made no effort to recover it before now?H3478H3427H2809H1323H6177H1323H5892H3027H769H7969H3967H8141H5337H625627Therefore, I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the LORD, who is judge, decide today which of us is right—Israel or Ammon."H2398H6213H853H7451H3898H3068H8199H8199H3117H1121H3478H1121H598328But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah's message.H4428H1121H5983H8085H1697H3316H797129At that time the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites.H7307H3068H3316H5674H1568H4519H5674H4708H1568H4708H1568H5674H1121H598330And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, "If you give me victory over the Ammonites,H3316H5087H5088H3068H559H5414H5414H1121H5983H302731I will give to the LORD whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."H3318H3318H1817H1004H7125H7725H7965H1121H5983H3068H5927H593032So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave him victory.H3316H5674H1121H5983H3898H3068H5414H302733He crushed the Ammonites, devastating about twenty towns from Aroer to an area near Minnith and as far away as Abel-keramim. In this way Israel defeated the Ammonites.H5221H6177H935H4511H6242H5892H58H3754H64H3966H1419H4347H1121H5983H3665H6440H1121H347834When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters.H3316H935H4709H1004H1323H3318H7125H8596H4246H3173H1121H176H132335When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. "Oh, my daughter!" he cried out. "You have completely destroyed me! You've brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the LORD, and I cannot take it back."H7200H7167H899H559H162H1323H3766H3766H3766H5916H6475H6310H3068H3201H772536And she said, "Father, if you have made a vow to the LORD, you must do to me what you have vowed, for the LORD has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites.H559H1H6475H6310H3068H6213H834H3318H6310H310H3068H6213H5360H341H1121H598337But first let me do this one thing: Let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin."H559H1H1697H6213H7503H8147H2320H3212H3381H2022H1058H1331H7464H747438"You may go," Jephthah said. And he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children.H559H3212H7971H8147H2320H3212H7464H1058H1331H202239When she returned home, her father kept the vow he had made, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in IsraelH7093H8147H2320H7725H1H6213H5088H5087H3045H376H2706H347840for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah's daughter.H1323H3478H3212H3117H3117H8567H1323H3316H1569H702H3117H8141
Judges 12
12Then the people of Ephraim mobilized an army and crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. They sent this message to Jephthah: "Why didn't you call for us to help you fight against the Ammonites? We are going to burn down your house with you in it!"H376H669H6817H5674H6828H559H3316H5674H3898H1121H5983H7121H3212H8313H1004H7842Jephthah replied, "I summoned you at the beginning of the dispute, but you refused to come! You failed to help us in our struggle against Ammon.H3316H559H5971H1961H3966H376H7379H1121H5983H2199H3467H30273So when I realized you weren't coming, I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the LORD gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you now come to fight me?"H7200H3467H7760H5315H3709H5674H1121H5983H3068H5414H3027H5927H3117H38984The people of Ephraim responded, "You men of Gilead are nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh." So Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and attacked the men of Ephraim and defeated them.H3316H6908H582H1568H3898H669H582H1568H5221H669H559H1568H6412H669H8432H669H8432H45195Jephthah captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to go back across, the men of Gilead would challenge him. "Are you a member of the tribe of Ephraim?" they would ask. If the man said, "No, I'm not,"H1568H3920H4569H3383H669H669H6412H559H5674H582H1568H559H673H5596they would tell him to say "Shibboleth." If he was from Ephraim, he would say "Sibboleth," because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time.H559H559H7641H559H5451H3559H1696H3559H270H7819H4569H3383H5307H6256H669H705H8147H5057Jephthah judged Israel for six years. When he died, he was buried in one of the towns of Gilead.H3316H8199H3478H8337H8141H4191H3316H1569H6912H5892H15688After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel.H310H78H1035H8199H34789He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He sent his daughters to marry men outside his clan, and he brought in thirty young women from outside his clan to marry his sons. Ibzan judged Israel for seven years.H7970H1121H7970H1323H7971H2351H935H7970H1323H2351H1121H8199H3478H7651H814110When he died, he was buried at Bethlehem.H4191H78H6912H103511After Ibzan died, Elon from the tribe of Zebulun judged Israel for ten years.H310H356H2075H8199H3478H8199H3478H6235H814112When he died, he was buried at Aijalon in Zebulun.H356H2075H4191H6912H357H776H207413After Elon died, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, judged Israel.H310H5658H1121H1985H6553H8199H347814He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years.H705H1121H7970H1121H1121H7392H7657H5895H8199H3478H8083H814115When he died, he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.H5658H1121H1985H6553H4191H6912H6552H776H669H2022H6003
Judges 13
13Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years.H1121H3478H6213H7451H3254H5869H3068H3068H5414H3027H6430H705H81412In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children.H259H376H6881H4940H1839H8034H4495H802H6135H32053The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah's wife and said, "Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son.H4397H3068H7200H802H559H6135H3205H2029H3205H11214So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food.H8104H8354H3196H7941H398H29315You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines."H2030H3205H1121H4177H5927H7218H5288H5139H430H990H2490H3467H3478H3027H64306The woman ran and told her husband, "A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God's angels, terrifying to see. I didn't ask where he was from, and he didn't tell me his name.H802H935H559H376H559H376H430H935H4758H4758H4397H430H3966H3372H7592H5046H80347But he told me, 'You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.'"H559H2030H3205H1121H7941H3196H8354H398H2932H5288H5139H430H990H3117H41948Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, saying, "Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born."H4495H6279H3068H559H994H136H4994H376H430H7971H935H3384H6213H5288H32059God answered Manoah's prayer, and the angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But her husband, Manoah, was not with her.H430H8085H6963H4495H4397H430H935H802H3427H7704H4495H37610So she quickly ran and told her husband, "The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!"H802H4116H7323H5046H376H559H376H7200H935H311711Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife the other day?" "Yes," he replied, "I am."H4495H6965H3212H310H802H935H376H559H376H1696H802H55912So Manoah asked him, "When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy's life and work?"H4495H559H1697H935H4941H5288H463913The angel of the LORD replied, "Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her.H4397H3068H559H4495H559H802H810414She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food."H398H3318H1612H8354H3196H7941H398H2932H6680H810415Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat."H4495H559H4397H3068H6113H6213H1423H5795H644016"I will stay," the angel of the LORD replied, "but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the LORD." (Manoah didn't realize it was the angel of the LORD.)H4397H3068H559H4495H6113H398H3899H518H6213H5930H5927H3068H4495H3045H4397H306817Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, "What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you."H4495H559H4397H3068H8034H1697H935H351318"Why do you ask my name?" the angel of the LORD replied. "It is too wonderful for you to understand."H4397H3068H559H7592H8034H6383H638319Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did an amazing thing.H4495H3947H1423H5795H4503H5927H6697H3068H6213H6381H4495H802H720020As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground.H3851H5927H8064H4196H4397H3068H5927H3851H4196H4495H802H7200H5307H6440H77621The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the LORD,H4397H3068H3254H7200H4495H802H4495H3045H4397H306822and he said to his wife, "We will certainly die, for we have seen God!"H4495H559H802H4191H4191H7200H43023But his wife said, "If the LORD were going to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn't have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles."H802H559H3863H3068H2654H4191H3947H5930H4503H3027H7200H6256H8085H206324When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up.H802H3205H1121H7121H8034H8123H5288H1431H3068H128825And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he lived in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.H7307H3068H2490H6470H4264H1835H6881H847
Dublin, OH
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