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Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and GileadbegatJephthah.
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And Gilead's wifebare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust outJephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strangewoman.
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Then Jephthahfledfrom his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gatheredvainmen to Jephthah, and went out with him.
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And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
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And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gileadwent to fetchJephthah out of the land of Tob:
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And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
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And Jephthahsaid unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
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And the elders of Gileadsaid unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
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And Jephthahsaid unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORDdeliver them before me, shall I be your head?
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And the elders of Gileadsaid unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
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Then Jephthahwent with the elders of Gilead, and the peoplemade him head and captain over them: and Jephthahuttered all his wordsbefore the LORD in Mizpeh.
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And Jephthahsentmessengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
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And the king of the children of Ammonanswered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands againpeaceably.
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And Jephthahsentmessengersagain unto the king of the children of Ammon:
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And said unto him, Thus saithJephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
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But when Israelcameup from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Redsea, and came to Kadesh;
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Then Israelsentmessengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edomwould not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israelabode in Kadesh.
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Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
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And Israelsentmessengers unto Sihonking of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israelsaid unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy landinto my place.
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But Sihontrusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihongathered all his peopletogether, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
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And the LORDGod of IsraeldeliveredSihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israelpossessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
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And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
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So now the LORDGod of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his peopleIsrael, and shouldest thou possess it?
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Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.
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And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he everstrive against Israel, or did he everfight against them,
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While Israeldwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, threehundredyears? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
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Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
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Howbeit the king of the children of Ammonhearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
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Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed overGilead, and Manasseh, and passed overMizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
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And Jephthahvowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without faildeliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
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Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
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So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORDdelivered them into his hands.
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And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twentycities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a verygreatslaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subduedbefore the children of Israel.
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And Jephthahcame to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughtercameout to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither sonnordaughter.
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And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me verylow, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
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And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath takenvengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.
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And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alonetwomonths, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.
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And he said, Go. And he sent her away for twomonths: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
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And it came to pass at the end of twomonths, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
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That the daughters of Israelwentyearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileaditefourdays in a year.