Judges 11:12-33

Devotionals, Articles, and Bible Study Resources on Judges 11:12-33

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?”
13The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”
14Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites
15to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites.
16But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.
18Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border.
19And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’
20But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
21Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country,
22seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it?
24Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.
25Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?
26For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time?
27I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
28But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.
29Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
30Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,
31then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
33With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.
— Judges 11:12-33

Cross References for Judges 11:12-33

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