Day 1 · Jephthah Delivers Israel
Judges 11:1–13
1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. 2And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.” 3So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him. 4Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel 5and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6“Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.” 7Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?” 8They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.” 9But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, will I really be your leader?” 10And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.” 11So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah. 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.”
Berean Standard Bible
Observe
What reason did Jephthah's brothers give for driving him away, and how did the elders' attitude toward him change when Ammon attacked?
Apply
When you feel overlooked or rejected by others, how can you seek God's direction before responding to demands placed on you this week?
In the app, each day also opens the words in the original language, what the passage meant to its first readers, pastors teaching it, a place to write, and a time to pray.