JEPHTHAH MET BY HIS DAUGHTER.
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. Judges xi, 29-34.
【士11:29】 耶和华的灵降在耶弗他身上,他就经过基列和玛拿西,来到基列的米斯巴,又从米斯巴来到亚扪人那里。
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
【士11:30】 耶弗他就向耶和华许愿,说,你若将亚扪人交在我手中,
And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD : 'If you give the Ammonites into my hands,
【士11:31】 我从亚扪人那里平平安安回来的时候,无论什么人,先从我家门出来迎接我,就必归你,我也必将他献上为燔祭。
whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD 's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.'
【士11:32】 于是耶弗他往亚扪人那里去,与他们争战。耶和华将他们交在他手中,
Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands.
【士11:33】 他就大大杀败他们,从亚罗珥到米匿,直到亚备勒基拉明,攻取了二十座城。这样亚扪人就被以色列人制伏了。
He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.
【士11:34】 耶弗他回米斯巴到了自己的家,不料,他女儿拿着鼓跳舞出来迎接他,是他独生的,此外无儿无女。
When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.
【士11:35】 耶弗他看见她,就撕裂衣服,说,哀哉。我的女儿阿,你使我甚是愁苦,叫我作难了。因为我已经向耶和华开口许愿,不能挽回。
When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, 'Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.'
【士11:36】 他女儿回答说,父阿,你既向耶和华开口,就当照你口中所说的向我行,因耶和华已经在仇敌亚扪人身上为你报仇。
'My father,' she replied, 'you have given your word to the LORD . Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.
【士11:37】 又对父亲说,有一件事求你允准,容我去两个月,与同伴在山上,好哀哭我终为处女。
But grant me this one request,' she said. 'Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.'
【士11:38】 耶弗他说,你去吧。就容她去两个月。她便和同伴去了,在山上为她终为处女哀哭。
'You may go,' he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.
【士11:39】 两月已满,她回到父亲那里,父亲就照所许的愿向她行了。女儿终身没有亲近男子。
After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. From this comes the Israelite custom
【士11:40】 此后以色列中有个规矩,每年以色列的女子去为基列人耶弗他的女儿哀哭四天。
that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.