1 J efté, o gileadita, era um guerreiro valente. Sua mãe era uma prostituta; seu pai chamava-se Gileade.

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

2 A mulher de Gileade também lhe deu filhos, que, quando já estavam grandes, expulsaram Jefté, dizendo: “Você não vai receber nenhuma herança de nossa família, pois é filho de outra mulher”.

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

3 E ntão Jefté fugiu dos seus irmãos e se estabeleceu em Tobe. Ali um bando de vadios uniu-se a ele e o seguia.

Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws joined up with Jephthah, and they went out with him.

4 A lgum tempo depois, quando os amonitas entraram em guerra contra Israel,

After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

5 o s líderes de Gileade foram buscar Jefté em Tobe.

When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob.

6 “ Venha”, disseram. “Seja nosso comandante, para que possamos combater os amonitas.”

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

7 D isse-lhes Jefté: “Vocês não me odiavam e não me expulsaram da casa de meu pai? Por que me procuram agora, quando estão em dificuldades?”

Jephthah 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?”

8 “ Apesar disso, agora estamos apelando para você”, responderam os líderes de Gileade. “Venha conosco combater os amonitas, e você será o chefe de todos os que vivem em Gileade.”

The 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. You will be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

9 J efté respondeu: “Se vocês me levarem de volta para combater os amonitas e o Senhor os entregar a mim, serei o chefe de vocês?”

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

10 O s líderes de Gileade responderam: “O Senhor é nossa testemunha; faremos conforme você diz”.

The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.”

11 A ssim Jefté foi com os líderes de Gileade, e o povo o fez chefe e comandante sobre todos. E ele repetiu perante o Senhor, em Mispá, todas as palavras que tinha dito.

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

12 J efté enviou mensageiros ao rei amonita com a seguinte pergunta: “Que é que tens contra nós, para teres atacado a nossa terra?”

Jephthah 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?”

13 O rei dos amonitas respondeu aos mensageiros de Jefté: “Quando Israel veio do Egito tomou as minhas terras, desde o Arnom até o Jaboque e até o Jordão. Agora, devolvam-me essas terras pacificamente”.

The 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.”

14 J efté mandou de novo mensageiros ao rei amonita,

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

15 d izendo: “Assim diz Jefté: Israel não tomou a terra de Moabe, e tampouco a terra dos amonitas.

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

16 Q uando veio do Egito, Israel foi pelo deserto até o mar Vermelho e daí para Cades.

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

17 E ntão Israel enviou mensageiros ao rei de Edom, dizendo: ‘Deixa-nos atravessar a tua terra’, mas o rei de Edom não quis ouvi-lo. Enviou o mesmo pedido ao rei de Moabe, e ele também não consentiu. Assim Israel permaneceu em Cades.

then 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.

18 “ Em seguida os israelitas viajaram pelo deserto e contornaram Edom e Moabe; passaram a leste de Moabe e acamparam do outro lado do Arnom. Não entraram no território de Moabe, pois o Arnom era a sua fronteira.

Then 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.

19 “ Depois Israel enviou mensageiros a Seom, rei dos amorreus, em Hesbom, e lhe pediu: ‘Deixa-nos atravessar a tua terra para irmos ao lugar que nos pertence!’

Israel 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.’

20 S eom, porém, não acreditou que Israel fosse apenas atravessar o seu território; assim convocou todos os seus homens, acampou em Jaza e lutou contra Israel.

But 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.

21 “ Então o Senhor, o Deus de Israel, entregou Seom e todos os seus homens nas mãos de Israel, e este os derrotou. Israel tomou posse de todas as terras dos amorreus que viviam naquela região,

Yahweh, 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.

22 c onquistando-a por inteiro, desde o Arnom até o Jaboque, e desde o deserto até o Jordão.

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

23 “ Agora que o Senhor, o Deus de Israel, expulsou os amorreus da presença de Israel, seu povo, queres tu tomá-la?

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

24 A caso não tomas posse daquilo que o teu deus Camos te dá? Da mesma forma tomaremos posse do que o Senhor, o nosso Deus, nos deu.

Won’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.

25 É s tu melhor do que Balaque, filho de Zipor, rei de Moabe? Entrou ele alguma vez em conflito com Israel ou lutou com ele?

Now 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?

26 D urante trezentos anos Israel ocupou Hesbom, Aroer, os povoados ao redor e todas as cidades às margens do Arnom. Por que não os reconquistaste todo esse tempo?

While 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?

27 N ada fiz contra ti, mas tu estás cometendo um erro, lutando contra mim. Que o Senhor, o Juiz, julgue hoje a disputa entre os israelitas e os amonitas”.

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

28 E ntretanto, o rei de Amom não deu atenção à mensagem de Jefté.

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

29 E ntão o Espírito do Senhor se apossou de Jefté. Este atravessou Gileade e Manassés, passou por Mispá de Gileade, e daí avançou contra os amonitas.

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

30 E Jefté fez este voto ao Senhor: “Se entregares os amonitas nas minhas mãos,

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

31 a quele que estiver saindo da porta da minha casa ao meu encontro, quando eu retornar da vitória sobre os amonitas, será do Senhor, e eu o oferecerei em holocausto”.

then it shall be, that whatever comes out of 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.”

32 E ntão Jefté foi combater os amonitas, e o Senhor os entregou nas suas mãos.

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

33 E le conquistou vinte cidades, desde Aroer até as vizinhanças de Minite, chegando a Abel-Queramim. Assim os amonitas foram subjugados pelos Israelitas.

He 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.

34 Q uando Jefté chegou à sua casa em Mispá, sua filha saiu ao seu encontro, dançando ao som de tamborins. E ela era filha única. Ele não tinha outro filho ou filha.

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

35 Q uando a viu, rasgou suas vestes e gritou: “Ah, minha filha! Estou angustiado e desesperado por sua causa, pois fiz ao Senhor um voto que não posso quebrar”.

When he saw her, 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.”

36 “ Meu pai”, respondeu ela, “sua palavra foi dada ao Senhor. Faça comigo o que prometeu, agora que o Senhor o vingou dos seus inimigos, os amonitas.”

She 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.”

37 E prosseguiu: “Mas conceda-me dois meses para vagar pelas colinas e chorar com as minhas amigas, porque jamais me casarei”.

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

38 “ Vá!”, disse ele. E deixou que ela fosse por dois meses. Ela e suas amigas foram para as colinas e choraram porque ela jamais se casaria.

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

39 P assados os dois meses, ela voltou a seu pai, e ele fez com ela o que tinha prometido no voto. Assim, ela nunca deixou de ser virgem. Daí vem o costume em Israel

At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She was a virgin. It was a custom in Israel

40 d e saírem as moças durante quatro dias, todos os anos, para celebrar a memória da filha de Jefté, o gileadita.

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