Jefta ta xupifa Israel
1 Ndele Jefta, Omugilead, okwa li omukwanyati omuladi, ndelenee ye okwa li omona wombwada. Ndele Gilead okwa li xe yaJefta. 2 Nomwalikadi waGilead eshi e mu dalela ovana ovamati, ndele ovana vomwalikadi, eshi va kula, vo ova taataa mo Jefta ndele tave mu lombwele: “Ove ito ka fyuulula pamwe nafye, osheshi oove omona womukainhu umwe.” 3 Onghee hano Jefta a ya onhapo ovamwaxe ndele a tula medu laTob. Novakolokoshi va ongala puJefta ndele va enda pamwe naye.
4 Nefimbo limwe konima yaai ovana vaAmmoni va homona Israel. 5 Ndelenee ovana vaAmmoni, eshi va homona Israel, ovakulunhu vomuGilead va ifana Jefta medu laTob. 6 Ndele va lombwela Jefta: “Ila u ninge ondjai yetu, tu shiive okulwa novana vaAmmoni.” 7 Ndelenee Jefta okwa nyamukula ovakulunhu vaGilead: “Onye mwa tonda nge ndele mwa taataa nge meumbo latate. Omolwashike hano tamu uya kwaame paife, eshi mwa hangika koudjuu?” 8 Opo nee ovakulunhu vaGilead tava ti kuJefta: “Fye ohatu uya kwoove paife opo u shune nafye, tu lwife ovana vaAmmoni, ndele u ninge omupangeli wetu nowoonakukalamo aveshe vomuGilead.” 9 Opo nee Jefta ta nyamukula ovakulunhu vaGilead ta ti: “Onye ngeenge tamu alula nge tu lwe novana vaAmmoni, nOmwene te va pe nge, ame ohandi ka ninga omupangeli weni.” 10 Opo nee ovakulunhu vaGilead tava ti kuJefta: “Omwene, Ye omupwilikini wetu. Oshili, ngaashi twe ku lombwela, osho hatu ningi.” 11 Osho hano Jefta okwa ya pamwe novakulunhu vaGilead, novanhu ve mu ninga omupangeli wavo nondjai yavo. Ndele Jefta okwa popya eendjovo adishe daye koshipala shOmwene muMispa. 12 Opo nee Jefta ta tumu ovatumwa kohamba yovana vaAmmoni, va pule: “Ove u na shike naame, eshi we uya u homone oshilongo shange?”
13 Nohamba yovana vaAmmoni tai ti kovatumwa vaJefta: “Ovaisraeli va kufa oshilongo shange, vo eshi va dja muEgipiti, okudja kuArnon fiyo okuJabbok nofiyo okuJordan. Shi alula hano paife nombili.” 14 Ndele Jefta okwa tuma vali ovatumwa kohamba yovana vaAmmoni, 15 ndele ta ti kuyo: “Jefta osho ta ti: Israel ina kufa oshilongo shaMoab ile oshilongo shovana vaAmmoni, 16 osheshi Israel, eshi a dja muEgipiti, okwa enda mombuwa fiyo okEfuta Litilyana, ndele a fika kuKades. 17 Ndele Israel okwa tuma ovatumwa kohamba yaEdom, tava ti: Itavelele nge ndi tauluke moshilongo shoye. Ndelenee ohamba yaEdom inai va uda. Ndele okwa tuma yo kohamba yaMoab, ndele nayo yo inai shi hala. Onghee hano Israel a kala muKades. 18 Ye okwa enda vali mombuwa ndele va dingilila oshilongo shaEdom noshilongo shaMoab, ndele e uya kombinga yokoushilo woshilongo shaMoab. Ndele vo ova onga onhanda kombada yaArnon, ndelenee inava ya mo moshilongo shaMoab, osheshi Arnon ongaba yaMoab. 19 Opo nee Israel a tuma ovatumwa kuSihon, ohamba yOvaamori, ohamba yomuHesbon, ndele Israel okwe i lombwela ta ti: Itavela, tu tauluke moshilongo shoye ndi ye konhele yange. 20 Ndelenee Sihon ina itavela Israel a tauluke moshilongo shaye. Ndele Sihon okwa shiva ovakwaita vaye aveshe, ndele vo va onga onhanda muJahas, ndele va lwifa Israel. 21 Ndelenee Omwene, Kalunga kaIsrael, okwa yandja Sihon noshiwana meke laIsrael. Onghee hano Israel okwa nangala oshilongo ashishe shOvaamori nokwa taataa oonakukalamo vomoshilongo. 22 Ndele vo ova nangala oshilongo ashishe shOvaamori, okudja kuArnon fiyo okuJabbok, nokudja kombuwa fiyo okuJordan. 23 Osho ngaha hano Omwene Kalunga kaIsrael, okwa taataa Ovaamori komesho yoshiwana shaye Israel, ndele ove wa hala oku shi nangala? 24 Ove ndishi ho nangala oshilongo osho oshikalunga shoye Kemosh tai shi ku pe, ndele fye ohatu nangala ashishe eshi Omwene Kalunga ketu te tu pe mokutaataa oonakukalamo komesho yetu? 25 Ove u dule hamba Balak yaSippor, ohamba yaMoab? Yo oya twifa ngeno Israel eemhata ile yo ye va homona hamba? 26 Israel a kala muHesbon nomuAroer nomikunda dasho nomoilando aishe oyo i li pomunghulo waArnon omido omafele atatu. Molwashike inamu i kufa po mefimbo linya? 27 Onghee hano ame inandi nyona kwoove, ndelenee ove to monifa nge oixuna moku tu lwifa. Omwene Omutokoli na tokole nena eli pokati kovana vaIsrael novana vaAmmoni!” 28 Ndelenee ohamba yovana vaAmmoni ina pwilikina eendjovo, Jefta e di mu tumina.
Eudaneko laJefta kOmwene
29 Opo nee Omhepo yOmwene ye uya kuJefta, nokwa tauluka Gilead naManasse ndele ta i kuMispa muGilead. Nokwa dja kuMispa muGilead ndele ta i kovana vaAmmoni. 30 Ndele Jefta okwa udanekela Omwene eudaneko ndele ta ti: “Ove ngeenge to yandje meke lange ovana vaAmmoni, 31 opo nee keshe ou ta piti mo monhu yeumbo tete, ame ngeenge handi aluka nombili kovana vaAmmoni, ta ka ninga wOmwene, ndele ame ohandi ke mu yamba exwikiloyambo.” 32 Opo nee Jefta a ya kovana vaAmmoni nokwe va lwifa. NOmwene okwe va yandja meke laye. 33 Ndele ye okwe va taataa okudja kuAroer fiyo okuMinnit, oilando omilongo mbali, nofiyo okuAbel-Keramim, olwoodi linene unene. Osho hano ovana vaAmmoni va ninipikwa moipafi yovana vaIsrael. 34 Ndele Jefta eshi e uya kuMispa popepi neumbo laye, omona waye okakadona, okwa pita mo e mu shakeneke, ta tanhe ta nhuka, ta shiki okaxumba. Ye okwa li omona waye ewifa, ehe nomona omumati ile okakadona ponho yaye. 35 Ndele ye eshi e mu mona, okwa pombaula oikutu yaye, ndele ta ti: “Akutu, omona wange, ove to nyikifa nge oluhodi linene, ndele to undwile nge momupya! Osheshi ame nda makulila Omwene okanya kange, ndele ihandi dulu okulialula.” 36 Ndele ye okwe mu nyamukula ta ti: “Tate yange, ove ngeenge wa makulila Omwene okanya koye, ninge nge ngaashi okanya koye ke di pitifa mo, Omwene eshi a wanifila ovatondadi voye, ovana vaAmmoni, ehandukilo la wana la wanenena.” 37 Nokwa lombwela vali xe: “Nandi itavelelwe, u efe nge eehani mbali, ndi ye ko ndi londe keemhunda ndi kale ko ndi lile oukadona wange, ame nookahewa kange.” 38 Ndele ye ta ti: Inda ko! Nokwe mu efa a ye ko a kale ko eehani mbali. Nokwa ya nookahewa kaye, ndele ta lili oukadona waye keemhunda. 39 Ndele eehani mbali eshi da pita po, ye okwa aluka kuxe, ndele ye okwa wanifila muye eudaneko laye. Ndele ye ina monafana nomulumenhu. Ndele muIsrael mwa li onghedi 40 nokutya oukadona Ovaisraeli tava i ko omudo nomudo okuhambelela nomaimbilo omona okakadona kaJefta, Omugilead, omafiku ane omudo keshe.
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.
