Judges: Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon and Abdon Judges 10-12

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1 After Abimelech died,

Tola was the next
person to rescue Israel
and he judged them for
twenty-three years.
After Tola died, Jair from
Gilead judged Israel for
twenty-two years. His
thirty sons rode around
on thirty donkeys, and
they owned thirty towns
in the land of Gilead,
which are still called the
Towns of Jair. When Jair
died, he was buried in
Kamon.
2 Once more the Israelites
abandoned the Lord to
serve Baal and
Ashtoreth. As a result
they were oppressed by
the Philistines and the
Ammonites for eighteen
years.
Finally, they cried out to
the Lord for help. God
replied, ‘Go and cry out
to the gods you have
chosen! Let them rescue
you in your hour of
distress!’
The Israelites then put
away their idols and
begged God to help
them again.
The armies of Ammon
had gathered for war
and were camped in
Gilead. The people were
camped at Mizpah. The
leaders of Gilead said,
‘Whoever attacks the
Ammonites first will
become ruler over all
the people of Gilead.’

3 Now Jephthah of Gilead

was a great warrior. He
was the son of Gilead,
but his mother was a
prostitute. Gilead’s sons
by his wife threw
Jephthah out of the
family and he fled to the
land of Tob.
The elders of Gilead sent
for Jephthah saying,
‘Come and be our
commander! Help us
fight the Ammonites!’
And they promised they
would make him their
leader.
So Jephthah became
their ruler and
commander of the army.
4 Jephthah sent
messengers to the king
of Ammon, asking, ‘Why
have you come out to
fight against my land?’
‘When the Israelites
came out of Egypt, they
stole my land,’ the king
of Ammon replied.
Jephthah replied, ‘It was
the the God of Israel,
who took away the land
from the Amorites and
gave it to Israel. Israel
has been living here for
300 years. You keep
whatever your god
Chemosh gives you, and
we will keep whatever,
the Lord our God gives
us.’
But the king of Ammon
paid no attention to
Jephthah’s message.

5 The Spirit of the Lord

came upon Jephthah,
and he went throughout
the land of Gilead and
Manasseh, to gather an
army to fight the
Ammonites.
Jephthah made a vow to
the Lord saying, ‘If you
give me victory over the
Ammonites, whatever
comes out of my house
to meet me when I
return in triumph will be
sacrificed as a burnt
offering.’
Jephthah led his army
against the Ammonites,
and the Lord gave him
victory. He crushed the
Ammonites, devastating
twenty of their towns.
6 When Jephthah returned
home to Mizpah, his
daughter came out to
meet him, playing on a
tambourine and dancing
for joy. She was his one
and only child.
When he saw her, he
tore his clothes in
anguish. ‘Oh, my
daughter!’ he cried out.
‘You have completely
destroyed me! For I
have made a vow to the
Lord, and I cannot take it
back.’
His daughter said,
‘Father, if you have
made a vow to the Lord
you must do to me what
you have vowed, but
first let me spend two
months with my friends
in the hills so I can
mourn that I will never
have children.’
When she returned
home, her father kept
the vow he had made.
So it has became a
custom in Israel for
young Israelite women
to go away for four days
each year to lament the
fate of Jephthah’s
daughter.
7 The people of Ephraim
mobilized an army and
sent this message to
Jephthah: ‘Why didn’t
you call for us to help
you fight against the
Ammonites? We are
going to burn down your
house with you in it!’
Jephthah replied, ‘I
summoned you at the
beginning of the dispute,
but you refused to
come!’
So Jephthah gathered all
the men of Gilead and
attacked the men of
Ephraim and defeated
them.
Jephthah captured the
shallow crossings of the
Jordan River, and
whenever a fugitive
from Ephraim tried to go
back across, the men of
Gilead would challenge
him. They would ask the
fugitive to say
‘Shibboleth.’ If he was
from Ephraim, he would
say ‘Sibboleth,’ because
people from Ephraim
cannot pronounce the
word correctly. 42,000
Ephraimites were killed
at that time.
Jephthah judged Israel
for six years and then
died.
8 After Jephthah died,
Ibzan from Bethlehem
judged Israel. He had
thirty sons and thirty
daughters. He sent his
daughters to marry men
outside his clan, and he
brought in thirty young
women from outside his
clan to marry his sons.
Ibzan judged Israel for
seven years.
After Ibzan died, Elon
from the tribe of
Zebulun judged Israel
for ten years.
After Elon died, Abdon
judged Israel. He had
forty sons and thirty
grandsons, who rode on
seventy donkeys. He
judged Israel for eight
years then died.