1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a woman of prostitution; and Gilead begot Jephthah.
2 Gileads wife bore sons; and when his wifes sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, You shall have no inheritance in our fathers house, for you are the son of another woman.
3 And Jephthah fled from before his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men collected around Jephthah and went out with him.
4 It came to pass after a time that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 And so it was, when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6 And then they said to Jephthah, Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.
7 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my fathers house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?
8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is why we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
9 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon, and Jehovah delivers them up before me, shall I be your head?
10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Jehovah is witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before Jehovah in Mizpah.
12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against my land?
13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably.
14 And Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon,
15 and said to him, Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon;
16 for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass through your land. But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained in Kadesh.
18 And they went along through the wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
19 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Please let us pass through your land into our place.
20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
21 And Jehovah the God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that land.
22 They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23 And now Jehovah the God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites before His people Israel; should you then possess it?
24 Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess? Thus, whatever Jehovah our God dispossesses before us, we will possess.
25 And now, are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them?
26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why have you not recovered them within that time?
27 Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you are wronging me by fighting against me. May Jehovah, the Judge, render judgment this day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.
28 However, the king of the children of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah had sent him.
29 Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on over toward the sons of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If You will give over to deliver up the sons of Ammon into my hands,
31 then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, shall surely be Jehovahs, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.
32 So Jephthah passed over toward the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and Jehovah delivered them into his hands.
33 And he struck them from Aroer as far as Minnith; twenty cities; and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.
34 And when Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
35 And it came to pass when he saw her, that he tore his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word unto Jehovah, and I cannot go back on it.
36 So she said to him, My father, if you have opened your mouth unto Jehovah, do unto me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because Jehovah has taken vengeance upon your enemies, the sons of Ammon.
37 And she said to her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I.
38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.
39 And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he did to her according to the vow which he had vowed. She had known no man. And it became a custom in Israel,
40 that the daughters of Israel went four days each year, year after year, to recount the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
1 Jefté, o gileadita, era um guerreiro valente. Sua mãe era uma prostituta; seu pai foi Gileade.
2 A mulher de Gileade também lhe deu filhos, que quando já estavam grandes, expulsaram Jefté, dizendo: "Você não vai receber nenhuma herança de nossa família, pois é filho de outra mulher".
3 Então Jefté fugiu dos seus irmãos e se estabeleceu em Tobe. Ali um bando de vadios uniu-se a ele e o seguia.
4 Algum tempo depois, quando os amonitas entraram em guerra contra Israel,
5 os líderes de Gileade foram buscar Jefté em Tobe.
6 "Venha", disseram. "Seja nosso comandante, para que possamos combater os amonitas. "
7 Disse-lhes Jefté: "Vocês não me odiavam e não me expulsaram da casa de meu pai? Por que me procuram agora, quando estão em dificuldades? "
8 "Apesar disso, agora estamos apelando para você", responderam os líderes de Gileade. "Venha combater conosco os amonitas, e você será o chefe de todos os que vivem em Gileade. "
9 Jefté respondeu: "Se vocês me levarem de volta para combater os amonitas e o Senhor os entregar a mim, serei o chefe de vocês? "
10 Os líderes de Gileade responderam: "O Senhor é nossa testemunha; faremos conforme você diz".
11 Assim Jefté foi com os líderes de Gileade, e o povo o fez chefe e comandante sobre todos. E ele repetiu perante o Senhor, em Mispá, todas as palavras que tinha dito.
12 Jefté enviou mensageiros ao rei amonita com a seguinte pergunta: "Que é que tens contra nós, para ter atacado a nossa terra? "
13 O rei dos amonitas respondeu aos mensageiros de Jefté: "Quando Israel veio do Egito tomou as minhas terras, desde o Arnom até o Jaboque e até o Jordão. Agora, devolvam-me essas terras pacificamente".
14 Jefté mandou de novo mensageiros ao rei amonita,
15 dizendo: "Assim diz Jefté: Israel não tomou a terra de Moabe, e tampouco a terra dos amonitas.
16 Quando veio do Egito, Israel foi pelo deserto até o mar Vermelho e daí para Cades.
17 Então Israel enviou mensageiros ao rei de Edom, dizendo: ‘Deixa-nos atravessar a tua terra’, mas o rei de Edom não quis ouvi-lo. Enviou o mesmo pedido ao rei de Moabe, e ele também não consentiu. Assim Israel permaneceu em Cades.
18 "Em seguida os israelitas viajaram pelo deserto e contornaram Edom e Moabe; passaram a leste de Moabe e acamparam do outro lado do Arnom. Não entraram no território de Moabe, pois o Arnom era a sua fronteira.
19 "Depois Israel enviou mensageiros a Seom, rei dos amorreus, em Hesbom, e lhe pediu: ‘Deixa-nos atravessar a tua terra para irmos ao lugar que nos pertence! ’
20 Seom, porém, não acreditou que Israel fosse apenas atravessar o seu território; assim convocou todos os seus homens, acampou em Jaza e lutou contra Israel.
21 "Então o Senhor, o Deus de Israel, entregou Seom e todos os seus homens nas mãos de Israel, e este os derrotou. Israel tomou posse de todas as terras dos amorreus que viviam naquela região,
22 conquistando-a por inteiro, desde o Arnom até o Jaboque, e desde o deserto até o Jordão.
23 "Agora que o Senhor, o Deus de Israel, expulsou os amorreus da presença do seu povo Israel, queres tu tomá-la?
24 Acaso não tomas posse daquilo que o teu deus Camos te dá? Da mesma forma tomaremos posse do que o Senhor nosso Deus nos deu.
25 És tu melhor do que Balaque, filho de Zipor, rei de Moabe? Entrou ele alguma vez em conflito com Israel ou lutou com ele?
26 Durante trezentos anos Israel ocupou Hesbom, Aroer, os povoados ao redor e todas as cidades às margens do Arnom. Por que não os reconquistaste todo esse tempo?
27 Nada fiz contra ti, mas tu estás cometendo um erro, lutando contra mim. Que o Senhor, o Juiz, julgue hoje a disputa entre os israelitas e os amonitas".
28 Entretanto, o rei de Amom não deu atenção à mensagem de Jefté.
29 Então o Espírito do Senhor se apossou de Jefté. Este atravessou Gileade e Manassés, passou por Mispá de Gileade, e daí avançou contra os amonitas.
30 E Jefté fez este voto ao Senhor: "Se entregares os amonitas nas minhas mãos,
31 aquele que vier saindo da porta da minha casa ao meu encontro, quando eu retornar da vitória sobre os amonitas, será do Senhor, e eu o oferecerei em holocausto".
32 Então Jefté foi combater os amonitas, e o Senhor os entregou nas suas mãos.
33 Ele conquistou vinte cidades, desde Aroer até as vizinhanças de Minite, chegando a Abel-Queramim. Assim os amonitas foram subjugados pelos Israelitas.
34 Quando Jefté chegou à sua casa em Mispá, sua filha saiu ao seu encontro, dançando ao som de tamborins. E ela era filha única. Ele não tinha outro filho ou filha.
35 Quando a viu, rasgou suas vestes e gritou: "Ah, minha filha! Estou angustiado e desesperado por tua causa, pois fiz ao Senhor um voto que não posso quebrar".
36 "Meu pai", respondeu ela, "sua palavra foi dada ao Senhor. Faça comigo o que prometeu, agora que o Senhor o vingou dos seus inimigos, os amonitas. "
37 E prosseguiu: "Mas conceda-me dois meses para vagar pelas colinas e chorar com as minhas amigas, porque jamais me casarei".
38 "Vá! ", disse ele. E deixou que ela fosse por dois meses. Ela e suas amigas foram para as colinas e choraram porque ela jamais se casaria.
39 Passados os dois meses, ela voltou a seu pai, e ele fez com ela o que tinha prometido no voto. Assim, ela nunca deixou de ser virgem. Daí vem o costume em Israel
40 de saírem as moças durante quatro dias, todos os anos, para celebrar a memória da filha de Jefté, o gileadita.