Judges 1:1
Judah Takes the Lead
1:1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?”
Judges 11:1-40
11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father.
11:2 Gilead’s wife also gave him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, because you are another woman’s son.”
11:3 So Jephthah left his half-brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him.
11:4 It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel.
11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back from the land of Tob.
11:6 They said, “Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites.”
11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?”
11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, but now we pledge to you our loyalty. Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader of all who live in Gilead.”
11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, I will be your leader.”
11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, if we do not do as you say.”
11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement before the Lord in Mizpah.
Jephthah Gives a History Lesson
11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have you come against me to attack my land?”
11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole my land when they came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. Now return it peaceably!”
11:14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king
11:15 and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.
11:16 When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh.
11:17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request. Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
11:18 Then Israel went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border).
11:19 Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.”
11:20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He assembled his whole army, camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
11:21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.
11:22 They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west.
11:23 Since the Lord God of Israel has driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them?
11:24 You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us.
11:25 Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them?
11:26 Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time?
11:27 I have not done you wrong, but you are doing wrong by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”
11:28 But the Ammonite king disregarded the message sent by Jephthah.
A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter
11:29 The Lord’s spirit empowered Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites.
11:30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me,
11:31 then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he will belong to the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.”
11:32 Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him.
11:33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites.
11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.
11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! You have brought me disaster! I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”
11:36 She said to him, “My father, since you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. After all, the Lord vindicated you before your enemies, the Ammonites.”
11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.”
11:38 He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills.
11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel.
11:40 Every year Israelite women commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days.
Judges 18:1-31
The Tribe of Dan Finds an Inheritance
18:1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel.
18:2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives, capable men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house.
18:3 As they approached Micah’s house, they recognized the accent of the young Levite. So they stopped there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”
18:4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying, “He hired me and I became his priest.”
18:5 They said to him, “Seek a divine oracle for us, so we can know if we will be successful on our mission.”
18:6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence. The Lord will be with you on your mission.”
18:7 So the five men journeyed on and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there were living securely, like the Sidonians do, undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.
18:8 When the Danites returned to their tribe in Zorah and Eshtaol, their kinsmen asked them, “How did it go?”
18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, for we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, but don’t hesitate to invade and conquer the land.
18:10 When you invade, you will encounter unsuspecting people. The land is wide! God is handing it over to you – a place that lacks nothing on earth!”
18:11 So six hundred Danites, fully armed, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.
18:12 They went up and camped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. (To this day that place is called Camp of Dan. It is west of Kiriath Jearim.)
18:13 From there they traveled through the Ephraimite hill country and arrived at Micah’s house.
18:14 The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their kinsmen, “Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod, some personal idols, a carved image, and a metal image? Decide now what you want to do.”
18:15 They stopped there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah), and asked him how he was doing.
18:16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate.
18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men.
18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?”
18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group.
18:21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions.
18:22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors gathered together and caught up with the Danites.
18:23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites turned around and said to Micah, “Why have you gathered together?”
18:24 He said, “You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’”
18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men will attack you, and you and your family will die.”
18:26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized they were too strong to resist, he turned around and went home.
18:27 Now the Danites took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city.
18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and occupied it.
18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. But the city’s name used to be Laish.
18:30 The Danites worshiped the carved image. Jonathan, descendant of Gershom, son of Moses, and his descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile.
18:31 They worshiped Micah’s carved image the whole time God’s authorized shrine was in Shiloh.