1ገለዓዳዊው ዮፍታሔ ኀያል ጦረኛ ነበረ፤ አባቱ ገለዓድ ነበር፤ እናቱም ጋለሞታ ነበረች። 2እንደዚሁም የገለዓድ ሚስት ለገለዓድ ወንዶች ልጆች ወለደችለት፤ እነርሱም ባደጉ ጊዜ ዮፍታሔን፣ “ከሌላ ሴት ስለ ተወለድህ ከቤተ ሰባችን ምንም ዐይነት ውርስ አይገባህም” በማለት አሳደዱት። 3ስለዚህም ዮፍታሔ ከወንድሞቹ ሸሽቶ መኖሪያውን ጦብ በተባለች ምድር አደረገ፤ እዚያም ወሮበሎች ተሰባስበው ተከተሉት።
4ከጥቂት ጊዜ በኋላም አሞናውያን በእስራኤል ላይ ጦርነት ባደረጉ ጊዜ፣ 5የገለዓድ አለቆች ዮፍታሔን ለማምጣት ወደ ጦብ ምድር ሄዱ። 6እነርሱም፣ “ከአሞናውያን ጋር መዋጋት እንችል ዘንድ መጥተህ ምራን” አሉት።
7ዮፍታሔም፣ “ምነው ጠልታችሁኝ ከአባቴ ቤት አሳድዳችሁኝ አልነበረምን? ታዲያ አሁን ችግር ሲገጥማችሁ ነው የምትፈልጉኝ?” አላቸው።
8የገለዓድ አለቆችም፣ “እንግዲህ አሁን ወደ አንተ መጥተናል፤ አሞናውያንን እንድንወጋ በል ተነሥና አብረን እንሂድ፤ በገለዓድ በምንኖረው በሁላችንም ላይ አለቃ ትሆናለህ” አሉት።
9ዮፍታሔም፣ “አሞናውያንን ለመውጋት ወደ አገሬ ብትመልሱኝና እግዚአብሔር በእጄ አሳልፎ ቢሰጣቸው በርግጥ አለቃችሁ እሆናለሁ?” ሲል ጠየቃቸው።
10የገለዓድ አለቆችም፣ “እግዚአብሔር ምስክራችን ነው፤ ያልኸውንም በርግጥ እናደርጋለን” አሉት። 11ስለዚህ ዮፍታሔ ከገለዓድ አለቆች ጋር ሄደ፤ ሕዝቡም በላያቸው ላይ አለቃና አዛዥ አደረጉት፤ ዮፍታሔም የተናገረውን ቃል ሁሉ ምጽጳ ላይ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ደገመው።
12ከዚያም ዮፍታሔ ወደ አሞናውያን ንጉሥ፣ “ከእኔ ጋር ምን ጠብ ቢኖርህ ነው መጥተህ አገሬን የወጋኸው?” በማለት መልእክተኞች ላከ።
13የአሞናውያንም ንጉሥ ለዮፍታሔ መልእክተኞች፣ “ይህን ያደረግሁት እስራኤል ከግብፅ በወጣ ጊዜ በአርኖንና በያቦቅ ወንዞች መካከል ያለውንና እስከ ዮርዳኖስ ያለውን አገሬን ስለ ወሰዱብኝ ነው፤ አሁንም በሰላም መልሱልኝ” አላቸው።
14ዮፍታሔም መልእክተኞቹን እንደ ገና ወደ አሞናውያን ንጉሥ ላካቸው፤ 15እንዲህም አላቸው፤ “ዮፍታሔ እንዲህ ይላል፤ እስራኤል የሞዓብንም ሆነ የአሞናውያንን ምድር አልወሰደም። 16እስራኤል ከግብፅ በወጣ ጊዜ በምድረ በዳ አድርጎ ወደ ቀይ ባሕር11፥16 ዕብራይስጡ ያም ሶውፍ ይላል፤ ይህም የዳንኤል ባሕር ማለት ነው። ከዚያም ወደ ቃዴስ ሄደ። 17እስራኤልም ወደ ኤዶም ንጉሥ፣ ‘በአገርህ እንዳልፍ እባክህ ፍቀድልኝ’ በማለት መልእክተኞችን ላከበት፤ የኤዶም ንጉሥ ግን አልሰማውም። ለሞዓብ ንጉሥም እንደዚሁ ላከበት፤ እርሱም አልተቀበለውም፤ ስለዚህ እስራኤል በቃዴስ ተቀመጠ።
18“ቀጥሎም የኤዶምንና የሞዓብን ምድር በመዞር፣ በምድረ በዳው ተጕዞ ከሞዓብ በስተ ምሥራቅ በኩል በማለፍ ከአርኖን ማዶ ሰፈረ፤ የሞዓብም ድንበር አርኖን ስለ ነበር ወደ ሞዓብ ክልል አልገባም።
19“ከዚያም እስራኤል በሐሴቦን ወዳለው ወደ አሞራውያን ንጉሥ ወደ ሴዎን መልእክተኞች ልኮ፣ ‘ወደ ገዛ ስፍራችን ለመሄድ በአገርህ እንዳልፍ ፍቀድልኝ’ አለው። 20ሴዎን ግን በግዛቱ እንዲያልፍ ለመፍቀድ እስራኤልን አላመነውም11፥20 ወይም ከእስራኤል ጋር አልተስማማም፤ ሰራዊቱንም ሰብስቦ በያሃድ ከሰፈረ በኋላ ከእስራኤል ጋር ተዋጋ።
21“ከዚያም የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ሴዎንንና ሕዝቡን ሁሉ በእስራኤል እጅ አሳልፎ ሰጣቸው፤ አሸነፏቸውም። እስራኤልም በዚያ አገር የሚኖሩትን የአሞራውያንን ምድር በሙሉ ወረሰ፤ 22ከአርኖን እስከ ያቦቅ፣ ከምድረ በዳው እስከ ዮርዳኖስ ድረስ ያለውን ምድር በሙሉ ወረሱ።
23“እንግዲህ የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር አሞራውያንን ከሕዝቡ ከእስራኤል ፊት አሳድዶ ካስወጣቸው፣ አንተ ለመውሰድ ምን መብት አለህ? 24አምላክህ ካሞሽ የሰጠህን ይዞ ማቈየቱ ያንተ ፈንታ ነው፤ እኛም እንደዚሁ አምላካችን እግዚአብሔር የሰጠንን ሁሉ ርስት አድርገን እንወርሳለን። 25አንተ ከሞዓብ ንጉሥ ከሴፎር ልጅ ከባላቅ ትበልጣለህን? ለመሆኑ እርሱ ከእስራኤል ጋር ተጣልቷልን? ወይስ ተዋግቷልን? 26እስራኤልም በሐሴቦንና በመንደሮቿ፣ በአሮዔርና በመንደሮቿ፣ በአርኖንም አቅራቢያ ባሉት ከተሞች ሁሉ ሦስት መቶ ዓመት ተቀምጦ በነበረበት በዚያን ጊዜ ስለ ምን አልወሰዳችኋቸውም ነበር? 27እኔ አልበደልሁህም፤ አንተ ግን በእኔ ላይ ዘምተህ በድለኸኛል፤ እንግዲህማ ፈራጁ11፥27 ወይም መሪው እግዚአብሔር በእስራኤላውያንና በአሞናውያን መካከል ዛሬ ይፍረድ።”
28የአሞን ንጉሥ ግን ዮፍታሔ የላከውን መልእክት ከምንም አልቈጠረውም።
29ከዚያም የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ በዮፍታሔ ላይ ወረደ፤ ተነሥቶም ገለዓድንና ምናሴን አቋርጦ ሄደ። ገለዓድ ባለችው በምጽጳ በኩል አድርጎም በአሞናውያን ላይ ዘመተባቸው። 30ዮፍታሔም እንዲህ ሲል ለእግዚአብሔር ተሳለ፤ “አሞናውያንን በእጄ አሳልፈህ ብትሰጠኝ፣ 31አሞናውያንን ድል አድርጌ በምመለስበት ጊዜ በመጀመሪያ ሊቀበለኝ ከቤቴ ደጅ የሚወጣው ማንኛውም ሰው ለእግዚአብሔር ይሆናል፤ እኔም የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት አድርጌ አቀርበዋለሁ።”
32ከዚያም ዮፍታሔ አሞናውያንን ለመውጋት ወጣ፤ እግዚአብሔርም እርሱን በእጁ አሳልፎ ሰጠው። 33ከአሮዔር አንሥቶ እስከ ሚኒት አካባ፣ ከዚያም ዐልፎ እስከ ክራሚም የሚገኙትን ሃያ ከተሞች ፈጽሞ አጠፋቸው፤ አሞናውያንም ለእስራኤል ተገዙ።
34ዮፍታሔ ምጽጳ ወዳለው ቤቱ ተመለሰ። እነሆ፤ ልጁ አታሞ እየደለቀች በመዝፈን ልትቀበለው ወጣች፤ እርሷም አንዲት ልጁ ብቻ ነበረች፤ ከእርሷ በቀር ወንድም ሆነ ሴት ልጅ አልነበረውም። 35ባያትም ጊዜ ልብሱን በመቅደድ፣ “ወይኔ ልጄ ጕድ አደረግሽኝ! ጭንቅም ላይ ጣልሽኝ፤ ማስቀረት የማልችለውን ስእለት ለእግዚአብሔር ተስያለሁና” ብሎ በሐዘን ጮኸ።
36እርሷም እንዲህ አለች፤ “አባቴ ሆይ፤ መቼም አንዴ ለእግዚአብሔር ቃል ገብተሃል፤ ጠላቶችህን አሞናውያንን አሁን እግዚአብሔር ተበቅሎልሃልና ቃል የገባኸውን ፈጽምብኝ። 37ነገር ግን አንድ ነገር ብቻ እንድትፈቅድልኝ እለምንሃለሁ፤ ከእንግዲህ ባል ስለማላገባ ከባልንጀሮቼ ጋር ወደ ተራሮች ወጥቼ እየዞርሁ ሁለት ወር እንዳለቅስ አሰናብተኝ።”
38እርሱም፣ “በይ ሂጂ” ብሎ ለሁለት ወር አሰናበታት፤ እርሷም ከእንግዲህ ባል ስለማታገባ ከልጃገረድ ጓደኞቿ ጋር ወደ ተራሮች ሄደው አለቀሱ። 39ከሁለት ወር በኋላ ወደ አባቷ ተመለሰች፤ እርሱም የተሳለውን አደረገ፤ ድንግልም ነበረች።
ከዚያን ጊዜ ጀምሮ ይህ በእስራኤል ልማድ ሆኖ፣ 40የእስራኤል ወጣት ሴቶች የገለዓዳዊውን የዮፍታሔን ልጅ በማሰብ በየዓመቱ እየወጡ የአራት ቀን ሐዘን ያደርጉላታል።
1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.11.1 Jephthah: Gr. Jephthae11.1 an harlot: Heb. a woman an harlot 2And Gilead’s wife bare him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman. 3Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.11.3 from: Heb. from the face of
4¶ And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.11.4 in process…: Heb. after days 5And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob: 6And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. 7And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? 8And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. 9And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head? 10And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.11.10 witness…: Heb. the hearer between us 11Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.
12¶ And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land? 13And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably. 14And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon: 15And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: 16But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; 17Then 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 hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh. 18Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab. 19And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. 20But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 21And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. 22And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan. 23So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? 24Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. 25And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them, 26While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time? 27Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. 28Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
29¶ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. 30And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 31Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.11.31 whatsoever…: Heb. that which cometh forth, which shall come forth11.31 and…: or, or I will offer it, etc
32¶ So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. 33And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.11.33 the plain: or, Abel
34¶ And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.11.34 beside…: or, he had not of his own either son or daughter: Heb. of himself 35And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back. 36And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. 37And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.11.37 go up…: Heb. go and go down 38And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. 39And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,11.39 custom: or, ordinance 40That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.11.40 yearly: Heb. from year to year11.40 to lament: or, to talk with
