¹ And Jephthah the Gileadite hath been a mighty man of valour, and he [is] son of a woman, a harlot; and Gilead begetteth Jephthah,

² and the wife of Gilead beareth to him sons, and the wife's sons grow up and cast out Jephthah, and say to him, `Thou dost not inherit in the house of our father; for son of another woman [art] thou.'

³ And Jephthah fleeth from the face of his brethren, and dwelleth in the land of Tob; and vain men gather themselves together unto Jephthah, and they go out with him.

⁴ And it cometh to pass, after a time, that the Bene-Ammon fight with Israel,

⁵ and it cometh to pass, when the Bene-Ammon have fought with Israel, that the elders of Gilead go to take Jephthah from the land of Tob;

⁶ and they say unto Jephthah, `Come, and thou hast been to us for captain, and we fight against the Bene-Ammon.'

⁷ And Jephthah saith to the elders of Gilead, `Have not ye hated me? and ye cast me out from the house of my father, and wherefore have ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?'

⁸ and the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, `Therefore, now, we have turned back unto thee; and thou hast gone with us, and fought against the Bene-Ammon, and thou hast been to us for head -- to all the inhabitants of Gilead.'

⁹ And Jephthah saith unto the elders of Gilead, `If ye are taking me back to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah hath given them before me -- I, am I to you for a head?'

¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, `Jehovah is hearkening between us -- if according to thy word we do not so.'

¹¹ And Jephthah goeth with the elders of Gilead, and the people set him over them for head and for captain, and Jephthah speaketh all his words before Jehovah in Mizpeh.

¹² And Jephthah sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon, saying, `What -- to me and to thee, that thou hast come in unto me, to fight in my land.'

¹³ And the king of the Bene-Ammon saith unto the messengers of Jephthah, `Because Israel took my land in his coming up out of Egypt, from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan; and now, restore them in peace.'

¹⁴ And Jephthah addeth yet and sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon,

¹⁵ and saith to him, `Thus said Jephthah, Israel took not the land of Moab, and the land of the Bene-Ammon,

¹⁶ for in their coming up out of Egypt, Israel goeth in the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and cometh in to Kadesh,

¹⁷ and Israel sendeth messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me pass over, I pray thee, through thy land, and the king of Edom hearkened not; and also unto the king of Moab hath [Israel] sent, and he hath not been willing; and Israel abideth in Kadesh,

¹⁸ and he goeth through the wilderness, and compasseth the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and cometh in at the rising of the sun of the land of Moab, and they encamp beyond Arnon, and have not come into the border of Moab, for Arnon [is] the border of Moab.

¹⁹ `And Israel sendeth messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and Israel saith to him, Let us pass over, we pray thee, through thy land, unto my place,

²⁰ and Sihon hath not trusted Israel to pass over through his border, and Sihon gathereth all his people, and they encamp in Jahaz, and fight with Israel;

²¹ and Jehovah, God of Israel, giveth Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smite them, and Israel possesseth all the land of the Amorite, the inhabitant of that land,

²² and they possess all the border of the Amorite from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and from the wilderness, and unto the Jordan.

²³ `And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorite from the presence of His people Israel, and thou wouldst possess it!

²⁴ That which Chemosh thy god causeth thee to possess -- dost thou not possess it? and all that which Jehovah our god hath dispossessed from our presence, -- it we do possess.

²⁵ `And now, [art] thou at all better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he at all strive with Israel? did he at all fight against them?

²⁶ In Israel's dwelling in Heshbon and in its towns, and in Aroer and in its towns, and in all the cities which [are] by the sides of Arnon three hundred years -- and wherefore have ye not delivered them in that time?

²⁷ And I -- I have not sinned against thee, and thou art doing with me evil -- to fight against me. Jehovah, the Judge, doth Judge to-day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.'

²⁸ And the king of the Bene-Ammon hath not hearkened unto the words of Jephthah which he sent unto him,

²⁹ and the Spirit of Jehovah is on Jephthah, and he passeth over Gilead and Manasseh, and passeth over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he hath passed over to the Bene-Ammon.

³⁰ And Jephthah voweth a vow to Jehovah, and saith, `If Thou dost at all give the Bene-Ammon into my hand --

³¹ then it hath been, that which at all cometh out from the doors of my house to meet me in my turning back in peace from the Bene-Ammon -- it hath been to Jehovah, or I have offered up for it -- a burnt-offering.'

³² And Jephthah passeth over unto the Bene-Ammon to fight against them, and Jehovah giveth them into his hand,

³³ and he smiteth them from Aroer, and unto thy going in to Minnith, twenty cities, and unto the meadow of the vineyards -- a very great smiting; and the Bene-Ammon are humbled at the presence of the sons of Israel.

³⁴ And Jephthah cometh into Mizpeh, unto his house, and lo, his daughter is coming out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses, and save her alone, he hath none, son or daughter.

³⁵ And it cometh to pass, when he seeth her, that he rendeth his garments, and saith, `Alas, my daughter, thou hast caused me greatly to bend, and thou hast been among those troubling me; and I -- I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah, and I am not able to turn back.'

³⁶ And she saith unto him, `My father -- thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah, do to me as it hath gone out from thy mouth, after that Jehovah hath done for thee vengeance on thine enemies, on the Bene-Ammon.'

³⁷ And she saith unto her father, `Let this thing be done to me; desist from me two months, and I go on, and have gone down on the hills, and I weep for my virginity -- I and my friends.'

³⁸ And he saith, `Go;' and he sendeth her away two months, and she goeth, she and her friends, and she weepeth for her virginity on the hills;

³⁹ and it cometh to pass at the end of two months that she turneth back unto her father, and he doth to her his vow which he hath vowed, and she knew not a man; and it is a statute in Israel:

⁴⁰ from time to time the daughters of Israel go to talk to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.

¹ It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim,

² that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar).

³ All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea).

⁴ Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.

⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

⁶ and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness.

⁷ They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar.

⁸ The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim;

⁹ against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.

¹⁰ Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills.

¹¹ They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way.

¹² They took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³ One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram.

¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

¹⁵ He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

¹⁶ He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

¹⁷ The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

¹⁸ Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.

¹⁹ He blessed him, and said, "blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:

²⁰ and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Abram gave him a tenth of all.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself."

²² Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,

²³ that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.'

²⁴ I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion."