14. Again Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king,
15. and said to him,“Jephthah says this: Israel did not take the land of Moab, nor the Ammonite land;
16. for when Israel came up from Egypt, they went into the desert as far as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land.’ Yet the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
18. “They went into the wilderness, around the lands of Edom and Moab. They went east of the land of Moab and set up camp on the other side of the River Arnon. They did not cross the boundary of Moab, for the River Arnon was the boundary of Moab.
19. “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our home.”
20. Yet Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people and set up camp in Jahaz to fight with Israel.
21. “The Lord God of Israel gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, and they struck them down. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.
22. They took possession of all of the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.
23. “Now that the Lord God of Israel has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you take it?
24. Will you not take possession of whatever Chemosh your god gives you? So everything that the Lord our God possesses before us, we will take possession of it.
25. Now are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or wage war with them?
26. Israel has lived in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the banks of the River Arnon for three hundred years. Why did you not take them back during that time?
27. So I have not sinned against you, but it is you who are doing evil to me by waging war against me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge today between the children of Israel and the Ammonites.”
28. Yet the Ammonite king would not listen to the message that Jephthah had sent him.
29. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and went on to the Ammonites.
30. Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, “If You will indeed give the Ammonites into my hands,
31. then whatever comes out from the door of my house to meet me, when I return safely from the Ammonites, will surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32. So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to wage war against them, and the Lord gave them into his hands.