¹Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute: and Gilead became the father of Jephthah.

¹Gileaditen Jefta var en dygtig Kriger. Han var Søn af en Skøge. Gilead avlede Jefta.

²Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, “You shall not inherit in our father’s house; for you are the son of another woman.”

²Men Gileads Hustru fødte ham Sønner, og da de voksede op, jog de Jefta bort med de Ord: "Du skal ikke have Arv og Lod i vor Faders Hus, thi du er en fremmed Kvindes Søn!"

³Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him.

³Jefta flygtede da for sine Brødre og bosatte sig i Landet Tob, hvor nogle dårlige Folk samlede sig om ham og deltog i hans Strejftog.

⁴It happened after a while, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

⁴Efter nogen Tids Forløb angreb Ammoniterne Israel.

⁵It was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob;

⁵Og da Ammoniterne angreb Israel, drog Gileads Ældste hen for at hente Jefta hjem fra Landet Tob.

⁶and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.”

⁶De sagde til Jefta: "Kom og vær vor Fører, at vi kan tage Kampen op med Ammoniterne!"

⁷Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”

⁷Jefta svarede Gileads Ældste: "Har I ikke hadet mig og jaget mig bort fra min Faders Hus? Hvorfor kommer I da til mig, nu I er i Nød?"

⁸The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

⁸Men Gileads Ældste sagde til Jefta: "Derfor kommer vi jo nu tilbage til dig! Vil du drage med os og kæmpe med Ammoniterne, skal du være Høvding over os, over alle Gileads Indbyggere!"

⁹Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh deliver them before me, shall I be your head?”

⁹Jefta svarede Gileads Ældste: "Dersom I fører mig tilbage, for at jeg skal kæmpe med Ammoniterne, og HERREN giver dem i min Magt, så vil jeg være eders Høvding!"

¹⁰The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh shall be witness between us; surely according to your word so will we do.”

¹⁰Da sagde Gileads Ældste til Jefta: "HERREN hører Overenskomsten mellem os; visselig vil vi gøre, som du siger!"

¹¹Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah.

¹¹Da drog Jefta med Gileads Ældste; og Folket gjorde ham til deres Høvding og Fører. Og alle sine Ord udtalte Jefta for HERRENs Åsyn i Mizpa.

¹²Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, “What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”

¹²Derpå sendte Jefta Sendebud til Ammoniternes Konge og lod sige: "Hvad er der dig og mig imellem, siden du er draget imod mig for at angribe mit Land?"

¹³The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan: now therefore restore that territory again peaceably.”

¹³Ammoniternes Konge svarede Jeftas Sendebud: "Jo, Israel tog mit Land, da de drog op fra Ægypten, lige fra Arnon til Jabbok og Jordan; giv det derfor tilbage med det gode!"

¹⁴Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon;

¹⁴Men Jefta sendte atter Sendebud til Ammoniternes Konge

¹⁵and he said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel didn’t take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon,

¹⁵og lod sige: "Således siger Jefta: Israel har ikke taget Moabs eller Ammoniternes Land!

¹⁶but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea or, Sea of Reeds , and came to Kadesh;

¹⁶Men da de drog op fra Ægypten, vandrede Israel igennem Ørkenen til det røde Hav og kom derpå til Kadesj.

¹⁷then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let me pass through your land;’ but the king of Edom didn’t listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel stayed in Kadesh.

¹⁷Da sendte Israel Sendebud til Edomiternes Konge og lod sige: Lad mig drage igennem dit Land! Men Edomiternes Konge ænsede det ikke. Ligeledes sendte de Bud til Moabiternes Konge, men han var heller ikke villig dertil. Israel blev da boende i Kadesj.

¹⁸Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn’t come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

¹⁸Derpå drog de igennem Ørkenen og gik uden om Edomiternes og Moabiternes, Land, og da de nåede Egnen østen for Moab, slog de Lejr hinsides Arnon; men de betrådte ikke Moabs Enemærker, thi Arnon er Moabs Grænse.

¹⁹Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to my place.’

¹⁹Israel sendte derpå Sendebud til Kongen af Hesjbon, Amoriterkongen Sihon, og lod sige: Lad os drage igennem dit Land for at nå hen, hvor vi skal!

²⁰But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

²⁰Men Sihon nægtede Israelitterne Tilladelse til at drage gennem hans Land; og Sihon samlede hele sin Hær, og de slog Lejr i Jaza og angreb Israel.

²¹Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

²¹Da gav HERREN, Israels Gud, Sihon og hele hans Hær i Israels Hånd, så at de slog dem. Og Israel underlagde sig hele det Land, Amoriterne boede i;

²²They possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan.

²²de underlagde sig hele Amoriternes Område fra Arnon til Jabbok og fra Ørkenen til Jordan.

²³So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them?

²³Således drev HERREN, Israels Gud, Amoriterne bort foran sit Folk Israel; og nu vil du underlægge dig deres Land!

²⁴Won’t you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever Yahweh our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.

²⁴Ikke sandt, når din Gud Kemosj driver nogen bort, så tager du hans Land? Og hver Gang HERREN vor Gud driver nogen bort foran os, tager vi hans Land.

²⁵Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them?

²⁵Er du vel bedre end Zippors Søn, Kong Balak af Moab? Stredes han med Israel, eller indlod han sig i Kamp med dem,

²⁶While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; why didn’t you recover them within that time?

²⁶da Israelitterne bosatte sig i Hesjbon med Småbyer, i Aroer med Småbyer og i alle Byerne langs Arnon nu har de boet der i 300 År? Hvorfor tilrev I eder dem ikke dengang?

²⁷I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me. Yahweh, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.”

²⁷Det er ikke mig, der har forbrudt mig mod dig, men dig, der handler ilde mod mig ved at angribe mig. HERREN, Dommeren, vil i Dag dømme Israelitterne og Ammoniterne imellem!"

²⁸However the king of the children of Ammon didn’t listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

²⁸Men Ammoniternes Konge ænsede ikke Jeftas Ord, som hans Sendebud overbragte.

²⁹Then the Spirit of Yahweh came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.

²⁹Da kom HERRENs Ånd over Jefta; og han drog igennem Gilead og Manasse; derpå drog han til Mizpe i Gilead, og fra Mizpe i Gilead drog han mod Ammoniterne.

³⁰Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand,

³⁰Og Jefta aflagde HERREN et Løfte og sagde: "Dersom du giver Ammoniterne i min Hånd,

³¹then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”

³¹så skal den, som først kommer mig i Møde fra min Husdør når jeg vender uskadt, tilbage fra Ammoniterne, tilfalde HERREN, og jeg vil ofre ham som Brændoffer!"

³²So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh delivered them into his hand.

³²Så drog Jefta i Kamp mod Ammoniterne, og HERREN gav dem i hans Hånd,

³³He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

³³så at han tilføjede dem et stort Nederlag fra Aroer til Egnen ved Minnit, tyve Byer, og til Abel Keramim. Således bukkede Ammoniterne under for Israelitterne.

³⁴Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

³⁴Men da Jefta kom til sit Hjem i Mizpa, se, da kom hans Datter ham i Møde med Håndpauker og Dans. Hun var hans eneste Barn foruden hende havde han hverken Søn eller Datter.

³⁵It happened, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to Yahweh, and I can’t go back.”

³⁵Da han fik Øje på hende, sønderrev han sine Klæder og råbte: "Ak, min Datter, du har bøjet mig dybt, og det er dig, der styrter mig i Ulykke! Thi jeg har åbnet min Mund for HERREN og kan ikke tage mit Ord tilbage!"

³⁶She said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon.”

³⁶Da svarede hun ham: "Fader, har du åbnet din Mund for HERREN, så gør med mig, som dit Ord lød, nu da HERREN har skaffet dig Hævn over dine Fjender, Ammoniterne!"

³⁷She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.”

³⁷Men hun sagde til sin Fader: "En Ting må du unde mig: Giv mig to Måneders Frist, så jeg kan gå omkring i Bjergene for at begræde min Jomfrustand sammen med mine Veninder!"

³⁸He said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains.

³⁸Han sagde: "Gå!" og lod hende drage bort i to Måneder; og hun gik bort med sine Veninder for at begræde sin Jomfrustand i Bjergene.

³⁹It happened at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she was a virgin. It was a custom in Israel,

³⁹Da de to Måneder var omme, vendte hun tilbage til sin Fader, og han fuldbyrdede det Løfte, han havde aflagt, på hende; og hun havde ikke kendt Mand. Og det blev Skik i Israel,

⁴⁰that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

⁴⁰at Israels Døtre hvert År går hen for at klage over Gileaditen Jeftas Datter fire Dage om Året.