11 Jephthah^(A) the Gileadite was a mighty warrior.^(B) His father was Gilead;^(C) his mother was a prostitute.^{(D) 2} Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.” ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob,^(E) where a gang of scoundrels^(F) gathered around him and followed him.

⁴ Some time later, when the Ammonites^(G) were fighting against Israel, ⁵ the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶ “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.”

⁷ Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house?^(H) Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”

⁸ The elders of Gilead said to him, “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head^(I) over all of us who live in Gilead.”

²⁹ Then the Spirit^(A) of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah^(B) of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.^(C)