Jephthah
1-5 The leaders of the Gilead clan decided to ask a brave warrior named Jephthah son of Gilead to lead the attack against the Ammonites.
Even though Jephthah belonged to the Gilead clan, he had earlier been forced to leave the region where they had lived. Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, but his half brothers were the sons of his father's wife.
One day his half brothers told him, “You don't really belong to our family, so you can't have any of the family property.” Then they forced Jephthah to leave home.
Jephthah went to the country of Tob, where he was joined by a number of men who would do anything for money.
So the leaders of Gilead went to Jephthah and said, 6 “Please come back to Gilead! If you lead our army, we will be able to fight off the Ammonites.”
7 “Didn't you hate me?” Jephthah replied. “Weren't you the ones who forced me to leave my family? You're only coming to me now because you're in trouble.”
8 “But we do want you to come back,” the leaders said. “And if you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you the ruler of Gilead.”
9 “All right,” Jephthah said. “If I go back with you and the Lord lets me defeat the Ammonites, will you really make me your ruler?”
10 “You have our word,” the leaders answered. “And the Lord is a witness to what we have said.”
11 So Jephthah went back to Mizpah with the leaders of Gilead. The people of Gilead gathered at the place of worship and made Jephthah their ruler. Jephthah also made promises to them.
12 After the ceremony, Jephthah sent messengers to say to the king of Ammon, “Are you trying to start a war? You have invaded my country, and I want to know why!”
13 The king of Ammon replied, “Tell Jephthah that the land really belongs to me, all the way from the Arnon River in the south, to the Jabbok River in the north, and west to the Jordan River. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole it. Tell Jephthah to return it to me, and there won't be any war.”
14 Jephthah sent the messengers back to the king of Ammon, 15 and they told him that Jephthah had said:
Israel hasn't taken any territory from Moab or Ammon. 16 When the Israelites came from Egypt, they traveled across the desert to the Red Sea and then to Kadesh. 17 They sent messengers to the king of Edom and said, “Please, let us go through your country.” But the king of Edom refused. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he wouldn't let them cross his country either. And so the Israelites stayed at Kadesh.
18 A little later, the Israelites set out into the desert, going east of Edom and Moab, and camping on the eastern side of the Arnon River gorge. The Arnon is the eastern border of Moab, and since the Israelites didn't cross it, they didn't even set foot in Moab.
19 The Israelites sent messengers to the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon. “Please,” they said, “let our people go through your country to get to our own land.”
20 Sihon didn't think the Israelites could be trusted, so he called his army together. They set up camp at Jahaz, then they attacked the Israelite camp. 21 But the Lord God helped Israel defeat Sihon and his army. Israel took over all of the Amorite land where Sihon's people had lived, 22 from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and from the desert in the east to the Jordan River in the west.
23 The messengers also told the king of Ammon that Jephthah had said:
The Lord God of Israel helped his nation get rid of the Amorites and take their land. Now do you think you're going to take over that same territory? 24 If Chemosh your god takes over a country and gives it to you, don't you have a right to it? And if the Lord takes over a country and gives it to us, the land is ours!
25 Are you better than Balak the son of Zippor? He was the king of Moab, but he didn't quarrel with Israel or start a war with us.
26 For 300 years, Israelites have been living in Heshbon and Aroer and the nearby villages, and in the towns along the Arnon River gorge. If the land really belonged to you Ammonites, you wouldn't have waited until now to try to get it back.
27 I haven't done anything to you, but it's certainly wrong of you to start a war. I pray that the Lord will show whether Israel or Ammon is in the right.
28 But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah's message.
29 Then the Lord's Spirit took control of Jephthah, and Jephthah went through Gilead and Manasseh, raising an army. Finally, he arrived at Mizpah in Gilead, where 30 he promised the Lord, “If you will let me defeat the Ammonites 31 and come home safely, I will sacrifice to you whoever comes out to meet me first.”
32 From Mizpah, Jephthah attacked the Ammonites, and the Lord helped him defeat them.
33 Jephthah and his army destroyed the 20 towns between Aroer and Minnith, and others as far as Abel-Keramim. After that, the Ammonites could not invade Israel any more.
Jephthah's Daughter
34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, the first one to meet him was his daughter. She was playing a tambourine and dancing to celebrate his victory, and she was his only child.
35 “Oh no!” Jephthah cried. Then he tore his clothes in sorrow and said to his daughter, “I made a sacred promise to the Lord, and I must keep it. Your coming out to meet me has broken my heart.”
36 “Father,” she said, “you made a sacred promise to the Lord, and he let you defeat the Ammonites. Now, you must do what you promised, even if it means I must die. 37 But first, please let me spend two months, wandering in the hill country with my friends. We will cry together, because I can never get married and have children.”
38 “Yes, you may have two months,” Jephthah said.
She and some other girls left, and for two months they wandered in the hill country, crying because she could never get married and have children. 39 Then she went back to her father. He did what he had promised, and she never got married.
That's why 40 every year, Israelite girls walk around for four days, weeping for Jephthah's daughter.
1 Jefta, omukwiita ofule gwokuGilead, okwa li omuna gwohonda. He Gilead 2 okwa li e na oyana yalwe nomukadhi. Sho ya koko, oya tidha po Jefta noya ti kuye: “Ito ka thigulula nando osha putate, oshoka nyoko okwi ili.” 3 Jefta okwa yi ontuku yaamwahe e ta ka kala mevi lyaTob. Okwi ihilile ongundu yaantu yaamakaha noye ende ye mu tula mokakuwilili.
4 Konima yethimbo Aayammoni oya hingile Aaisraeli iita. 5 Shika sho sha ningwa, aawiliki yaGilead oya ka tala Jefta kevi lyaTob. 6 Oya ti: “Ila, u tu wilike, opo tu kondjithe Aayammoni.”
7 Ihe Jefta okwa yamukula: “Ne omwa tondo ndje nayi, sigo mwa tidha ndje maandjatate. Omolwashike tamu ya kungame ngashingeyi, sho mwa adhika kuudhigu?”
8 Oya ti kuye: “Otwi igameke kungoye, oshoka otwa hala, tu ye nangoye, tu ka kondjithe Aayammoni, ngoye u wilike aantu ayehe muGilead.”
9 Jefta okwa ti kuyo: “Ngele otamu galulile ndje kegumbo, ndi kondjithe Aayammoni, nOmuwa ta pe ndje esindano, nena otii ka ninga omuleli gweni.” 10 Oya yamukula: “Otwa zimine. Omuwa oye onzapo yetu.” 11 Osho ngaaka Jefta a yi naawiliki yaGilead, naantu oye mu ningi omuleli nomuwiliki gwawo. Koshipala shOmuwa muMispa Jefta okwe endulula oohapu dhe adhihe e dhi popi naawiliki.
12 Nena Jefta okwa tumu aatumwa komukwaniilwa gwaAmmon nelaka tali ti: “Oshike to tamanana natse? Omolwashike to matukile oshilongo shetu?” 13 Omukwaniilwa gwaAmmon okwa yamukula aatumwa yaJefta ta ti: “Aaisraeli sho ya zile muEgipiti, oya kutha po evi lyandje okuza komulonga Arnon sigo omulonga Jabbok nomulonga Jordan. Ngashingeyi li galulila ndje nombili.”
14 Jefta okwa tumununa ko ishewe aatumwa komukwaniilwa gwaAmmon, 15 neyamukulo lye tali ti: “Kashi shi oshili kutya Israel okwa kutha po evi lyaMoab nenge evi lyaAmmon. 16 Shoka sha ningwa, osho shika. Aaisraeli sho ya thigi po Egipiti, oya taula ombuga, sigo okEkololo lyaAkaba, e taa thiki kuKadesh. 17 Nena oya tumu aatumwa komukwaniilwa gwaEdom, ye mu pule epitikilo, ya taakane evi lye. Ihe omukwaniilwa gwaEdom ine ya pitikila. Oya pula ishewe omukwaniilwa gwaMoab, naye ongashikwawo, ine ya pitikila, ya pite mevi lye. Osho nduno Aaisraeli ya kala muKadesh. 18 Nena oya tsikile ya piti mombuga taa dhingoloka evi lyaEdom nevi lyaMoab, handiyaka yomulonga Arnon. Oko ya yungu ontanda, ihe inaa tokola nando Arnon, oshoka ogwa li ongamba yaMoab. 19 Nena Aaisraeli oya tumu aatumwa kuSihon, omukwaniilwa gwAayamori gwokuHeshbon noye mu pula epitikilo, ya taakane oshilongo she, ya ye kevi lyaandjawo. 20 Ihe Sihon ina pitika nando, Aaisraeli ye shi ninge. Okwe eta aakwiita ye ayehe e taa yungu ontanda puJahas nokwa matukile Aaisraeli. 21 Ihe Omuwa, Kalunga kaIsrael, okwa sinditha Aaisraeli ya sindi Sihon niita ye. Osho ngaaka Israel a lala oshilongo ashihe shAayamori mboka ya kala moshilongo shoka. 22 Oya kutha po oshilongo shAayamori ashihe okuza kuArnon muumbugantu sigo oJabbok muumbangalantu nokuza kombuga kuuzilo sigo oJordan kuuninginino. 23 Shika osha ningwa kOmuwa, Kalunga kaIsrael, ngoka a kwatha aantu ye Aaisraeli, ya tidhe po Aayamori. 24 Owa hala, u kambadhale oku li kutha ko? Dhiginina ndyoka wa pewa kukalunga koye Kemosh. Ihe tse otatu ka takamitha ashihe shoka Omuwa, Kalunga ketu, e tu pe. 25 Oto dhiladhila kutya ongoye omwaanawa u vule Balak yaZippor, omukwaniilwa gwaMoab? Okwa homona tuu Israel nenge e ya etela iita nando olumwe? 26 Oshoka pwa piti omimvo omathele gatatu, sho Israel a lala Heshbon naAroer, niilando yomuushiinda wayo, niilando ayihe komunkulo gwomulonga Arnon. Oshike inoo yi kutha ko nale? 27 Aawoo, inandi ku hinda nando okashona. Ongoye to hindi ndje, sho to etele ndje iita. Omuwa oye omutokoli. Oye ta ka tokola pokati kAaisraeli nAayammoni.” 28 Ihe omukwaniilwa gwaAmmon ina pupa ko nokuli kelaka lyaJefta.
29 Ombepo yOmuwa oya lambele Jefta. Okwa taakana Gilead naManasse e ta galukile kuMispe muGilead e ta yi kuAmmon. 30 Jefta oku uvanekele Omuwa: “Ngele oto sinditha ndje Aayammoni, 31 omuntu ngoka ta ka tsakaneka ndje tango ta zi maandjetu, otandi ke mu gandja kOmuwa omayambo, sho te galuka kiita nda sindana. Omuntu ngoka otandi ke mu ninga efikilondjambo.” 32 Osho Jefta a tokola omulonga, a ka kondje nAayammoni; Omuwa nokwe mu pe esindano. 33 Okwe ya thepagula okuza kuAroer nombinga ayihe muushiinda waMinnit, iilando omilongo mbali ayihe kumwe, sigololo Abel Keramim. Opwa li omulape gwowala, Aayammoni noya sindika kAaisraeli.
Omwanakadhona gwaJefta
34 Jefta sho a galukile kegumbo kuMispe, omwana omukadhona okwe ke mu tsakaneka ta tembula ye ta hiki ontunda. Okwa li epona. 35 Sho e mu mono, okwa tuula oonguwo dhe moluhodhi e ta ti: “O, mumwandje! Owa tatula omutima gwandje! Omolwashike wa undulile ndje momupya gu thike mpano? Onda ninga euvaneko nde li uvanekele Omuwa, noite vulu oku li lundulula.”
36 Omwanakadhona okwa ti kuye: “Ngele owa uvanekele Omuwa euvaneko, ninga sho wa ti, u shi ningile ndje. Omuwa ndishi okwe ku pa esindano, sho wa dhenge aatondi yoye Aayammoni.” 37 Ihe okwi indile he a ti: “Ningila ndje shika. Etha ndje manga oomwedhi mbali, ndi ye nookanee kandje koondundu, ndi ka lilile ko uukadhona wandje, sho te si inaandi fukala.” 38 He okwe mu lombwele, a ye, nokwe mu etha, a kale oomwedhi mbali. Okwa yi nookanee ke koondundu nokwa lilile ko uukadhona we, oshoka ina hokanwa noke na oluvalo. 39 Konima yoomwedhi mbali okwa galukile kuhe. Jefta okwa ningi, ngaashi u uvanekele Omuwa, nomwana okwa si manga ye omukadhona.
Shika osha ningile ondjigilile muIsrael. 40 Aakiintu aagundjuka haa yi omasiku gane omumvo kehe oku ka lila omwana omukadhona gwaJefta gwokuGilead.
