Judges 11:1–12

¹Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. ²And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”

³So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.

⁴Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel ⁵and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶“Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”

⁷Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”

⁸They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.”

⁹But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, will I really be your leader?”

¹⁰And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.”

¹¹So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.

¹²Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?”