6. They said to him, “Come and lead our army so we can fight the Ammonites.”
7. But Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me? You forced me to leave my father’s house! Why are you coming to me now that you are in trouble?”
8. The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is the reason we come to you now. Please come with us and fight against the Ammonites! You will be the ruler over everyone who lives in Gilead.”
9. Then Jephthah answered, “Suppose you take me back to Gilead to fight the Ammonites. If the Lord helps me win, I will be your ruler.”
10. The elders of Gilead said to him, “The Lord is listening to everything we are saying. We promise to do all that you tell us to do.”
11. So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander of their army. Jephthah repeated all of his words in front of the Lord at Mizpah.
12. Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites. The messengers asked the king, “What have you got against Israel? Why have you come to attack our land?”
13. The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah. He said, “We are fighting Israel because you took our land when you came up from Egypt. You took our land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River to the Jordan River. Now tell the people of Israel to give our land back to us in peace.”
14. Jephthah sent the messengers to the Ammonite king again.
15. They took this message:“This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of the people of Moab or Ammon.
16. When the people of Israel came out of Egypt, they went into the desert. They went to the Gulf of Aqaba and then to Kadesh.
17. Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom. They asked, ‘Let the people of Israel go across your land.’ But the king of Edom didn’t let us. We sent the same message to the king of Moab. But he would not let us go across his land either. So the Israelites stayed at Kadesh.
18. “Then the Israelites went into the desert. They went around the borders of the lands of Edom and Moab. Israel walked east of the land of Moab. They camped on the other side of the Arnon River. It was the border of the land of Moab. They did not cross it to go into the land of Moab.
19. “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites. Sihon was the king of the city of Heshbon. The messengers asked Sihon, ‘Let the people of Israel pass through your land. We want to go to our land.’