Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of an unknown mother. His half-brothers drove him out of their father's house, saying, "You shall not inherit in our father's household, because you are the son of a foreign woman."

He fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where men gathered to join him. In due time, the children of Ammon waged war against Israel. The elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob and said to him, "Come and be our captain."

Jephthah asked the elders of Gilead, "Did you not despise me and expel me from my father's house? Why have you come to me now in your time of distress?" The elders replied, "We turn back to you now. If you bring us back home to fight against the Ammonites and the Lord delivers them into your hands, will we make you our leader?"

Jephthah agreed to their terms, saying, "If I lead you to victory over the Ammonites, then I will be your captain." The elders said, "May the Lord be our witness that we will act in accordance with your words." Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and captain.

He spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh. Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, asking, "What business do you have with me that you have come against me to fight in my land?" The king of the children of Ammon replied, "Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt from Arnon even to Jabbok and to Jordan; now therefore restore those lands again peaceably."

Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, "Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the children of Ammon. When Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness to the Red Sea and arrived at Kadesh."

Then Jephthah explained that Israel had tried to pass through Edom's land but was refused permission; similarly, they asked permission to pass through Moab, but were denied again. So Israel remained in Kadesh and then went through the wilderness, encamping on the east side of Moab without entering its territory because Arnon marked the border.

Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites and ruler of Heshbon, saying, "Please let us pass through your land into my territory." But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so he gathered all his people together and pitched camp in Jahaz. The Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them.

Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, including their coast from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan. So now, the Lord God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; should you possess them? The king of the children of Ammon did not heed Jephthah's words.

The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, Manasseh, Mizpeh of Gilead, and then on to the children of Ammon. He vowed a vow to the Lord, saying, "If you will surely deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

So Jephthah passed over to fight against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. He struck them from Aroer to Minnith, twenty cities and more, with a very great slaughter.

Jephthah came home to Mizpeh, and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and dances; she was his only child, having no son besides her. When he saw her, Jephthah tore his clothes in grief and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, for I have opened my mouth to the Lord and cannot go back."

She replied, "My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has proceeded out of your mouth; for the Lord has taken vengeance on your enemies, the children of Ammon."

She asked her father, "Let me go and wander on the mountains with my companions for two months, that I may mourn my virginity." Her father agreed, saying, "Go," and sent her away for two months. She went with her companions and mourned her virginity on the mountains.

At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who carried out his vow by not allowing her to marry anyone; she remained a virgin. It was a custom in Israel that the daughters would annually visit to mourn Jephthah's daughter for four days each year.