1 Jephthah, a brave soldier from Gilead, was the son of a prostitute. His father Gilead 2 had other sons by his wife, and when they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave home. They told him, “You will not inherit anything from our father; you are the son of another woman.” 3 Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. There he attracted a group of worthless men, and they went around with him.
4 It was some time later that the Ammonites went to war against Israel. 5 When this happened, the leaders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back from the land of Tob. 6 They told him, “Come and lead us, so that we can fight the Ammonites.”
7 But Jephthah answered, “You hated me so much that you forced me to leave my father's house. Why come to me now that you're in trouble?”
8 They said to Jephthah, “We are turning to you now because we want you to go with us and fight the Ammonites and lead all the people of Gilead.”
9 Jephthah said to them, “If you take me back home to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives me victory, I will be your ruler.”
10 They replied, “We agree. The Lord is our witness.” 11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead, and the people made him their ruler and leader. Jephthah stated his terms at Mizpah in the presence of the Lord.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon to say, “What is your quarrel with us? Why have you invaded our country?”
13 The king of Ammon answered Jephthah's messengers, “When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and the Jordan River. Now you must give it back peacefully.”
14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of Ammon 15 with this answer: “It is not true that Israel took away the land of Moab or the land of Ammon. 16 This is what happened: when the Israelites left Egypt, they went through the desert to the Gulf of Aqaba and came to Kadesh. 17 Then they sent messengers to the king of Edom to ask permission to go through his land. But the king of Edom would not let them. They also asked the king of Moab, but neither would he let them go through his land. So the Israelites stayed at Kadesh. 18 Then they went on through the desert, going around the land of Edom and the land of Moab until they came to the east side of Moab, on the other side of the Arnon River. They camped there, but they did not cross the Arnon because it was the boundary of Moab. 19 Then the Israelites sent messengers to Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, and asked him for permission to go through his country to their own land. 20 But Sihon would not let Israel do it. He brought his whole army together, camped at Jahaz, and attacked Israel. 21 But the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the Israelites victory over Sihon and his army. So the Israelites took possession of all the territory of the Amorites who lived in that country. 22 They occupied all the Amorite territory from the Arnon in the south to the Jabbok in the north and from the desert on the east to the Jordan on the west. 23 So it was the Lord, the God of Israel, who drove out the Amorites for his people, the Israelites. 24 Are you going to try to take it back? You can keep whatever your god Chemosh has given you. But we are going to keep everything that the Lord, our God, has taken for us. 25 Do you think you are any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? He never challenged Israel, did he? Did he ever go to war against us? 26 For three hundred years Israel has occupied Heshbon and Aroer, and the towns around them, and all the cities on the banks of the Arnon River. Why haven't you taken them back in all this time? 27 No, I have not done you any wrong. You are doing wrong by making war on me. The Lord is the judge. He will decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.” 28 But the king of Ammon paid no attention to this message from Jephthah.
29 Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He went through Gilead and Manasseh and returned to Mizpah in Gilead and went on to Ammon. 30 Jephthah promised the Lord: “If you will give me victory over the Ammonites, 31 I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice.”
32 So Jephthah crossed the river to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him victory. 33 He struck at them from Aroer to the area around Minnith, twenty cities in all, and as far as Abel Keramim. There was a great slaughter, and the Ammonites were defeated by Israel.
Jephthah's Daughter
34 When Jephthah went back home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him, dancing and playing the tambourine. She was his only child. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in sorrow and said, “Oh, my daughter! You are breaking my heart! Why must it be you that causes me pain? I have made a solemn promise to the Lord, and I cannot take it back!”
36 She told him, “If you have made a promise to the Lord, do what you said you would do to me, since the Lord has given you revenge on your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 But she asked her father, “Do this one thing for me. Leave me alone for two months, so that I can go with my friends to wander in the mountains and grieve that I must die a virgin.” 38 He told her to go and sent her away for two months. She and her friends went up into the mountains and grieved because she was going to die unmarried and childless. 39 After two months she came back to her father. He did what he had promised the Lord, and she died still a virgin.
This was the origin of the custom in Israel 40 that the Israelite women would go out for four days every year to grieve for the daughter of Jephthah of Gilead.
1 Yepetaha, orivoya kyila'ba mbaraekye yi ni Gilada yasi, nda orivoya ŋgwa ronyi'ba aza ro. Täpi Yepetaha ro ni Gilada. 2 Ago toko Gilada ro ti ŋgwàagoro amba te Gilada ri; ondro ànya kolombayite oko, ànya njayi Yepetaha teni 'bäru, atayite ndäri ekye: “Miri a'done drimbi be katidri täpi amaro roya i'do; tana mi orivoya ŋgwa toko to ro.” 3 'Dooko Yepetaha mute ni ädrupii ndaro risi, ago rite wari Tobo roya; ago lau nda otokala gbokoi lidri takadoako'bai azaka rote, ago ànya soyite nda vo.
4 Ta ono vosi oko Amona'bai 'be kyila te Yisaraele'bai be. 5 Ondro Amona'bai ko'be kyila te Yisaraele be oko, dri'bai Gilada ro oyiyite Yepetaha logone ni wari Tobo ro yasi. 6 Ànya atayite Yepetaha ri ekye: “Nyikyi nya'do dri'ba amaro, tana màye kyila robe Amona'bai be.”
7 Oko Yepetaha zatadrite ekye: “Ya amiro osote kozipara malomvo ago mìnja ma teni zo täpi maro ro yasi. Ondro yauono ami te rriti ya oko, mìkye ya ikyi mare ya?”
8 Ago dri'bai atayite Yepetaha ri ekye: “Yauono màgo mègote mire, tana màle miri oyine ama yibe kyila oyene Amona'bai yibe, ago a'done dri'ba ro ama lidri cini Gilada ro dri.”
9 Yepetaha atate dri'bai ri ekye: “Ondro ka'do nyòlogo ma te 'bäru kpa to'dina kyila oyene Amona'bai be, ago OPI ko'ba ama te ànya opene ṛe oko, ma'dona ndi dri'ba amiro.”
10 Ago dri'bai Gilada ro logoyitate ekye: “Màle tadrite màyena ndi oso nyatabe ronye. OPI a'dona ndi ni tazevoedre'ba amaro.” 11 'Dooko Yepetaha oyite dri'bai Gilada robe, ago lidri 'ba nda te otaozo'ba ago dri'ba ànyaro. Yepetaha ata ta cini ndaro te OPI kandra Mizepa ya.
12 'Dooko Yepetaha zo lazo'bai te 'bädri'ba Amona'bai ro re atane ekye: “Kalaope amiro ama yibe e'di roya? Nyikyi gwo kyila be 'bädri maro ya etaya?”
13 Ago 'bädri'ba Amona ro zatadri lazo'bai Yepetaha ro rote ekye: “Tana Yisaraele'bai kayibe ikyi ni Ezipeto yasi ànya ruyi wari amaro te, etoni Golo Arenona ya le Golo Jaboka ndi Golo Yaradene robe ya. Yauono beṛo ämiri logone kovole ämäri liyaro.”
14 Ago Yepetaha zo lazo'bai te kpa to'dina 'bädri'ba Amona ro re 15 tadrioza ono be ekye: “Yepetaha ekye: Yisaraele'bai ru wari Moaba ro kote ca wari Amona'bai ro. 16 Oko tuse Yisaraele'bai kefobe ni Ezipeto yasi si; ànya oyiyite vocowa ya le Gyi'desi Okaro ya ago ikyiyite Kadesa ya. 17 'Dooko ànya zo lazo'bai te 'bädri'ba Edoma ro re taejine ekye: ‘Molo'baru miri mi'ba ämäri lävune wari miro yasi.’ Oko 'bädri'ba Edoma ro gazo ànyari lävune nasi. Ago ànya ejiyi 'bädri'ba Moaba ro kpate, caoko nda le kpa ko. Ta'dota Yisaraele'bai riyite Kadesa ya. 18 'Dooko ànya lävuyite vocowa yasi, lepiyite wari Edoma ro ndi Moaba robe lomvosi, madale ànya esayite lama telesi Moaba ro ogone 'buzelesi ya, lama telesi Golo Arenona roya. Ànya otoyi gawa te lau, oko ànya ciyi kote wari Moaba roya tana Arenona ni kishwedri Moaba ro owo. 19 'Dooko Yisaraele'bai zoyi lazo'bai te Siona 'bädri'ba Amora'bai ro, se koribe Esebona ya re, ago ejiyi nda te ekye: ‘Molo'baru miri mi'ba ämäri lävune wari miro yasi le wari amaro ya.’ 20 Oko Siona le kote Yisaraele ri lävune wari ndaro yasi. Nda otokala kyila'bai cini ndaro rote voaloya, ago otoyi gawa te Jahaza ya, ago yeyi kyila te Yisaraele'bai be. 21 Oko OPI, Lu Yisaraele ro, ozo Siona ndi kyila'bai cini ndaro te drì Yisaraele'bai roya ago Yisaraele'bai pe ànya te ṛe. Ta'dota Yisaraele'bai ruyi wari cini Amora'bai se koriyibe 'bädri ana ya ana rote. 22 Ago ànya ruyi wari cini Amora'bai rote etoni Arenona yasi le Jaboka ya ago ni vocowa yasi le Golo Yaradene ya. 23 Ta'dota OPI, Lu Yisaraele ro nja Amora'bai teni mile lidri ndaro Yisaraele ro yasi. Inye'do mile ogone wari ànyaro urune kovole ya? 24 Mindre vo ŋgase Kemosa lu miro kozobe miri 'do ro ayani. Oko màndrena amaro ŋgase cini OPI Lu amaro kozobe ämäri 'do vona ayani. 25 Inye'do mima miro be mi ni kadopara ndrani Balaka ŋgwa Zipora ro, 'bädri'ba Moaba ro ri ya? Inye'do nda pekala ndi Yisaraele be, kode nda ye kyila ndi ànya be ya? 26 Yisaraele rite ndroa kama nätu (300) Esebona ndi Aroeri be ya ndi 'baŋwai se lomvoigyesi yibe yasi, ndi 'bakicii se cini Golo Arenona kalasi be yasi. Tana e'di mi'de be ṛoko ogone urune tu gi cini kai si niya? 27 Màye ŋga kozi aza kote ämiri. Oko nya ni ama oye koziro ugu kyila o'besi ama be. OPI ni vureope'ba yi, ondro ono nda kope vure lakole lidri Yisaraele ro ndi Amona be roya.” 28 Caoko 'bädri'ba Amona ro ti ta lazo se Yepetaha kozobe ndäri ana ro kote.
29 'Dooko Tori OPI ro ikyite Yepetaha dri. Nda abate Gilada ndi Manase be yasi, ago egote Mizepa se Gilada ya ana ya, ago gwo oyite Amona ya. 30 Ago Yepetaha 'ba tao'ba te OPI ri ekye: “Ondro ka'do mi'ba mape Amona'bai te ṛe, 31 'dooko 'dise aza kabe efo käti käläsi zo maro ro yasi drî maro utune ni egovoya kyila Amona'bai be yasi 'do mazana ndi ŋgapäṛi ro. Ago mozona 'dina 'do ndi miri ŋgapäṛi ozaro.” 32 'Dooko Yepetaha oyite kyila oyene Amona'bai be, ago OPI ozo ànya te drì ndaro ya. 33 Ago nda tufu ànya te eto ni Aroeri yasi le Minita ya, ru 'bakicii 'buteritu te, ago sagwo le Abele Keramima ya. Utufu lidri te amba, ago Yisaraele pe Amona'bai te ṛe.
Ŋguti Yepetaha ro
34 Ondro Yepetaha kogote 'bäru Mizepa ya oko; ndre ŋguti ndaro te itwevoya tesi drî ndaro utune, läri oto be ago araca o'bi be. Anya ni toto ŋgwaŋwa alodi ndaro owo. Nda teinye ŋgwaagoro kode ŋgutiro aza ako. 35 Ondro nda kondre anya te oko, nda wa boŋgo ndaro te tusu amba si ago atate ekye: “Kuwuyi, ŋgutiŋwa maro! Mi'ba ma te a'done tusuro! Mi'ba mate a'done märäyi ro. Tana ma'ba tao'ba lämu'duro te OPI ri, ago märi drî ezane kovole ni kigyesi te i'do!”
36 Ago ŋgutiŋwa ndaro atate ndäri ekye: “Täpi maro, ondro ka'do mi'ba tao'ba te OPI ri, miye tase nyatabe oyene märi 'do ri, tana yauono OPI logo votaro te kyila'baazii miro Amona'bai dri.” 37 Oko anya eji täpi anyaro te ekye: “Miye ta ono märi, nye'be ma a'done dritai ro imba na ritu, tana moyi robe bereazii maro yibe, mùgu liyi robe tase mabe oye odrane teinye ŋguti kodroŋwa ro ono ta.” 38 Yepetaha atate anyari oyine ago zo anya te oyine imba na ritu. Ndi anya oyite bereazii anyaro be 'bereŋwai drisi ago liyiyite tana anya ka oyete odrane ogyeako. 39 Ago imba ritu vosi oko anya egote täpi anyaro Yepetaha re. Yepetaha ye tase nda ko'babe OPI ri ana te, ago anya drate teinye ŋguti kodroŋwa ro. Ono ni etovo la'bi ono ro Yisaraele ya 40 anjioko ndiriŋwa ri oyine lozo u'duna su ndroa cini ya liyine ta ŋgutiŋwa Yepetaha Gilada ro rota.