1. Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
2. Gilead’s wife also bore for him sons; and the sons of his wife grew up and drove Jephthah away, and they said to him, “You will not inherit the house of our father because you are the son of another woman.”
3. So Jephthah fled from the presence of his brothers, and he lived in the land of Tob. And outlaws gathered around Jephthah and went with him.
4. After a time the Ammonites made war with Israel.
5. When the Ammonites made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6. And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, so that we may make war against the Ammonites.”
7. Jephthah said to the elders, “Did you not shun me and drive me out from the house of my father? Why do you come to me now when you have trouble?”
8. And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That being so, we have now returned to you, that you may go with us to fight against the Ammonites and become for us as head of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
9. So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to fight against the Ammonites, and Yahweh gives them over to me, will I be your head?”
10. And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh will be a witness between us; we will act according to your word.”
11. So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah.
12. And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What is between you and me that you have come to me to make war against my land?”
13. And the king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel took my land from the Arnon up to the Jabbok and the Jordan when they came up from Egypt; so then, restore it peacefully.”
14. Once again Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites,
15. and he said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,