111 And Jephthah the Gileadite hath been a mighty man of valour, and he 'is' son of a woman, a harlot; and Gilead begetteth Jephthah, 2 and the wife of Gilead beareth to him sons, and the wife's sons grow up and cast out Jephthah, and say to him, 'Thou dost not inherit in the house of our father; for son of another woman 'art' thou.' 3 And Jephthah fleeth from the face of his brethren, and dwelleth in the land of Tob; and vain men gather themselves together unto Jephthah, and they go out with him.
4 And it cometh to pass, after a time, that the Bene-Ammon fight with Israel, 5 and it cometh to pass, when the Bene-Ammon have fought with Israel, that the elders of Gilead go to take Jephthah from the land of Tob; 6 and they say unto Jephthah, 'Come, and thou hast been to us for captain, and we fight against the Bene-Ammon.' 7 And Jephthah saith to the elders of Gilead, 'Have not ye hated me? and ye cast me out from the house of my father, and wherefore have ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?' 8 and the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, 'Therefore, now, we have turned back unto thee; and thou hast gone with us, and fought against the Bene-Ammon, and thou hast been to us for head—to all the inhabitants of Gilead.' 9 And Jephthah saith unto the elders of Gilead, 'If ye are taking me back to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah hath given them before me—I, am I to you for a head?' 10 And the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, 'Jehovah is hearkening between us—if according to thy word we do not so.' 11 And Jephthah goeth with the elders of Gilead, and the people set him over them for head and for captain, and Jephthah speaketh all his words before Jehovah in Mizpeh.
12 And Jephthah sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon, saying, 'What—to me and to thee, that thou hast come in unto me, to fight in my land.' 13 And the king of the Bene-Ammon saith unto the messengers of Jephthah, 'Because Israel took my land in his coming up out of Egypt, from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan; and now, restore them in peace.' 14 And Jephthah addeth yet and sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon, 15 and saith to him, 'Thus said Jephthah, Israel took not the land of Moab, and the land of the Bene-Ammon, 16 for in their coming up out of Egypt, Israel goeth in the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and cometh in to Kadesh, 17 and Israel sendeth messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me pass over, I pray thee, through thy land, and the king of Edom hearkened not; and also unto the king of Moab hath 'Israel' sent, and he hath not been willing; and Israel abideth in Kadesh, 18 and he goeth through the wilderness, and compasseth the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and cometh in at the rising of the sun of the land of Moab, and they encamp beyond Arnon, and have not come into the border of Moab, for Arnon 'is' the border of Moab. 19 'And Israel sendeth messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and Israel saith to him, Let us pass over, we pray thee, through thy land, unto my place, 20 and Sihon hath not trusted Israel to pass over through his border, and Sihon gathereth all his people, and they encamp in Jahaz, and fight with Israel; 21 and Jehovah, God of Israel, giveth Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smite them, and Israel possesseth all the land of the Amorite, the inhabitant of that land, 22 and they possess all the border of the Amorite from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and from the wilderness, and unto the Jordan. 23 'And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorite from the presence of His people Israel, and thou wouldst possess it! 24 That which Chemosh thy god causeth thee to possess—dost thou not possess it? and all that which Jehovah our God hath dispossessed from our presence,—it we do possess. 25 'And now, 'art' thou at all better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he at all strive with Israel? did he at all fight against them? 26 In Israel's dwelling in Heshbon and in its towns, and in Aroer and in its towns, and in all the cities which 'are' by the sides of Arnon three hundred years—and wherefore have ye not delivered them in that time? 27 And I—I have not sinned against thee, and thou art doing with me evil—to fight against me. Jehovah, the Judge, doth judge to-day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.' 28 And the king of the Bene-Ammon hath not hearkened unto the words of Jephthah which he sent unto him,
29 and the Spirit of Jehovah is on Jephthah, and he passeth over Gilead and Manasseh, and passeth over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he hath passed over to the Bene-Ammon. 30 And Jephthah voweth a vow to Jehovah, and saith, 'If Thou dost at all give the Bene-Ammon into my hand— 31 then it hath been, that which at all cometh out from the doors of my house to meet me in my turning back in peace from the Bene-Ammon—it hath been to Jehovah, or I have offered up for it—a burnt-offering.' 32 And Jephthah passeth over unto the Bene-Ammon to fight against them, and Jehovah giveth them into his hand, 33 and he smiteth them from Aroer, and unto thy going in to Minnith, twenty cities, and unto the meadow of the vineyards—a very great smiting; and the Bene-Ammon are humbled at the presence of the sons of Israel. 34 And Jephthah cometh into Mizpeh, unto his house, and lo, his daughter is coming out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses, and save her alone, he hath none, son or daughter. 35 And it cometh to pass, when he seeth her, that he rendeth his garments, and saith, 'Alas, my daughter, thou hast caused me greatly to bend, and thou hast been among those troubling me; and I—I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah, and I am not able to turn back.' 36 And she saith unto him, 'My father—thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah, do to me as it hath gone out from thy mouth, after that Jehovah hath done for thee vengeance on thine enemies, on the Bene-Ammon.' 37 And she saith unto her father, 'Let this thing be done to me; desist from me two months, and I go on, and have gone down on the hills, and I weep for my virginity—I and my friends.' 38 And he saith, 'Go;' and he sendeth her away two months, and she goeth, she and her friends, and she weepeth for her virginity on the hills; 39 and it cometh to pass at the end of two months that she turneth back unto her father, and he doth to her his vow which he hath vowed, and she knew not a man; and it is a statute in Israel: 40 from time to time the daughters of Israel go to talk to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.
121 And the men of Ephraim are called together, and pass over northward, and say to Jephthah, 'Wherefore has thou passed over to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and on us hast not called to go with thee? thy house we burn over thee with fire.' 2 And Jephthah saith unto them, 'A man of great strife I have been (I and my people) with the Bene-Ammon, and I call you, and ye have not saved me out of their hand, 3 and I see that thou art not a saviour, and I put my life in my hand, and pass over unto the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah giveth them into my hand—and why have ye come up unto me this day to fight against me?' 4 And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and fighteth with Ephraim, and the men of Gilead smite Ephraim, because they said, 'Fugitives of Ephraim 'are' ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim—in the midst of Manasseh.' 5 And Gilead captureth the passages of the Jordan to Ephraim, and it hath been, when 'any of' the fugitives of Ephraim say, 'Let me pass over,' and the men of Gilead say to him, 'An Ephramite thou?' and he saith, 'No;' 6 that they say to him, 'Say, I pray thee, Shibboleth;' and he saith, 'Sibboleth,' and is not prepared to speak right—and they seize him, and slaughter him at the passages of the Jordan, and there fall at that time, of Ephraim, forty and two chiefs. 7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years, and Jephthah the Gileadite dieth, and is buried in 'one of' the cities of Gilead.
8 And after him Ibzan of Beth-Lehem judgeth Israel, 9 and he hath thirty sons and thirty daughters, he hath sent without and thirty daughters hath brought in to his sons from without; and he judgeth Israel seven years. 10 And Ibzan dieth, and is buried in Beth-Lehem. 11 And after him Elon the Zebulunite judgeth Israel, and he judgeth Israel ten years, 12 and Elon the Zebulunite dieth, and is buried in Aijalon, in the land of Zebulun. 13 And after him, Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, judgeth Israel, 14 and he hath forty sons, and thirty grandsons, riding on seventy ass-colts, and he judgeth Israel eight years. 15 And Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, dieth, and is buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekite.
61 And it came to pass, on the second-first sabbath, as he is going through the corn fields, that his disciples were plucking the ears, and were eating, rubbing with the hands, 2 and certain of the Pharisees said to them, 'Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbaths?' 3 And Jesus answering said unto them, 'Did ye not read even this that David did, when he hungered, himself and those who are with him, 4 how he went into the house of God, and the loaves of the presentation did take, and did eat, and gave also to those with him, which it is not lawful to eat, except only to the priests?' 5 and he said to them,—'The Son of Man is lord also of the sabbath.'
6 And it came to pass also, on another sabbath, that he goeth into the synagogue, and teacheth, and there was there a man, and his right hand was withered, 7 and the scribes and the Pharisees were watching him, if on the sabbath he will heal, that they might find an accusation against him. 8 And he himself had known their reasonings, and said to the man having the withered hand, 'Rise, and stand in the midst;' and he having risen, stood. 9 Then said Jesus unto them, 'I will question you something: Is it lawful on the sabbaths to do good, or to do evil? life to save or to kill?' 10 And having looked round on them all, he said to the man, 'Stretch forth thy hand;' and he did so, and his hand was restored whole as the other; 11 and they were filled with madness, and were speaking with one another what they might do to Jesus.
12 And it came to pass in those days, he went forth to the mountain to pray, and was passing the night in the prayer of God, 13 and when it became day, he called near his disciples, and having chosen from them twelve, whom also he named apostles, 14 (Simon, whom also he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 15 Matthew and Thomas, James of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, 16 Judas of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also became betrayer;)
17 and having come down with them, he stood upon a level spot, and a crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all Judea, and Jerusalem, and the maritime Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their sicknesses, 18 and those harassed by unclean spirits, and they were healed, 19 and all the multitude were seeking to touch him, because power from him was going forth, and he was healing all.
20 And he, having lifted up his eyes to his disciples, said: 'Happy the poor—because yours is the reign of God. 21 'Happy those hungering now—because ye shall be filled. 'Happy those weeping now—because ye shall laugh. 22 'Happy are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach, and shall cast forth your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake— 23 rejoice in that day, and leap, for lo, your reward 'is' great in the heaven, for according to these things were their fathers doing to the prophets. 24 'But wo to you—the rich, because ye have got your comfort. 25 'Wo to you who have been filled—because ye shall hunger. 'Wo to you who are laughing now—because ye shall mourn and weep. 26 'Wo to you when all men shall speak well of you—for according to these things were their fathers doing to false prophets.
(Read Luke 6:1-5)
Christ justifies his disciples in a work of necessity for themselves on the sabbath day, and that was plucking the ears of corn when they were hungry. But we must take heed that we mistake not this liberty for leave to commit sin. Christ will have us to know and remember that it is his day, therefore to be spent in his service, and to his honour.
(Read Luke 6:6-11)
Christ was neither ashamed nor afraid to own the purposes of his grace. He healed the poor man, though he knew that his enemies would take advantage against him for it. Let us not be drawn either from our duty or from our usefulness by any opposition. We may well be amazed, that the sons of men should be so wicked.
(Read Luke 6:12-19)
We often think one half hour a great deal to spend in meditation and secret prayer, but Christ was whole nights engaged in these duties. In serving God, our great care should be not to lose time, but to make the end of one good duty the beginning of another. The twelve apostles are here named; never were men so privileged, yet one of them had a devil, and proved a traitor. Those who have not faithful preaching near them, had better travel far than be without it. It is indeed worth while to go a great way to hear the word of Christ, and to go out of the way of other business for it. They came to be cured by him, and he healed them. There is a fulness of grace in Christ, and healing virtue in him, ready to go out from him, that is enough for all, enough for each. Men regard the diseases of the body as greater evils than those of their souls; but the Scripture teaches us differently.
(Read Luke 6:20-26)
Here begins a discourse of Christ, most of which is also found in Matthew 5. But some think that this was preached at another time and place. All believers that take the precepts of the gospel to themselves, and live by them, may take the promises of the gospel to themselves, and live upon them. Woes are denounced against prosperous sinners as miserable people, though the world envies them. Those are blessed indeed whom Christ blesses, but those must be dreadfully miserable who fall under his woe and curse! What a vast advantage will the saint have over the sinner in the other world! and what a wide difference will there be in their rewards, how much soever the sinner may prosper, and the saint be afflicted here!
