4. And it came to pass after some days that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel.
5. And when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob;
6. and they said unto Jephthah, Come, and thou shalt be our captain that we may fight with the sons of Ammon.
7. And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me and expel me out of my father’s house? Why, therefore, are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
8. And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, For this same reason we turn again to thee now that thou may go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
9. Then Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the sons of Ammon and the Lord delivers them before me, shall I be your head?
10. And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Let the Lord hear between us, if we do not comply with thy words.
11. Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and prince over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh.
12. And Jephthah sent ambassadors unto the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
13. And the king of the sons of Ammon replied unto the ambassadors of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok and unto the Jordan; now, therefore, restore those lands again peaceably.
14. Then Jephthah sent ambassadors again unto the king of the sons of Ammon,
15. saying unto him, Thus hath Jephthah said, Israel did not take land from Moab, nor land from the sons of Ammon,
16. but Israel came up from Egypt and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea and came to Kadesh.
17. Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land. But the king of Edom would not hear them. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab, but he would not consent either; therefore Israel abode in Kadesh.
18. Then they went along through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came by the side of the rising of the sun to the land of Moab; they pitched their camp on the other side of Arnon and did not enter within the border of Moab, for Arnon was the border of Moab.