111 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a great man of war; he was the son of a loose woman, and Gilead was his father. 2 And Gilead's wife gave birth to sons, and when her sons became men, they sent Jephthah away, saying, You have no part in the heritage of our father's house, for you are the son of another woman. 3 So Jephthah went in flight from his brothers and was living in the land of Tob, where a number of good-for-nothing men, joining Jephthah, went out with him on his undertakings.

4 Now after a time the children of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 And when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the responsible men of Gilead went to get Jephthah back from the land of Tob; 6 And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief so that we may make war against the children of Ammon. 7 But Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, Did you not, in your hate for me, send me away from my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble? 8 And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is the reason we have come back to you; so go with us and make war against the children of Ammon, and we will make you our head over all the people of Gilead. 9 Then Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, If you take me back to make war against the children of Ammon, and if with the help of the Lord I overcome them, will you make me your head? 10 And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, May the Lord be our witness: we will certainly do as you say. 11 So Jephthah went with the responsible men of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah said all these things before the Lord in Mizpah.

12 Then Jephthah sent men to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you against me that you have come to make war against my land? 13 And the king of the children of Ammon said to the men sent by Jephthah, Because Israel, when he came up out of Egypt, took away my land, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and as far as Jordan: so now, give me back those lands quietly. 14 And Jephthah sent again to the king of the children of Ammon, 15 And said to him, This is the word of Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon; 16 But when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the waste land to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh; 17 Then Israel sent men to the king of Edom saying, Let me now go through your land; but the king of Edom did not give ear to them. And in the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not; so Israel went on living in Kadesh. 18 Then he went on through the waste land and round the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon; they did not come inside the limit of Moab, for the Arnon was the limit of Moab. 19 And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let me now go through your land to my place. 20 But Sihon would not give way and let Israel go through his land; and Sihon got together all his people, and put his army in position in Jahaz, and made war on Israel. 21 And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, and they overcame them; so all the land of the Amorites, the people of that land, became Israel's. 22 All the limit of the Amorites was theirs, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and from the waste land even to Jordan. 23 So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has taken away their land from the Amorites and given it to his people Israel; are you then to have it? 24 Do you not keep the lands of those whom Chemosh your god sends out from before you? So we will keep all the lands of those whom the Lord our God sends out from before us. 25 What! are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever take up a cause against Israel or make war against them? 26 While Israel was living in Heshbon and its daughter-towns and in Aroer and its daughter-towns and in all the towns which are by the side of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not get them back at that time? 27 So I have done no wrong against you, but you are doing wrong to me in fighting against me: may the Lord, who is Judge this day, be judge between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. 28 The king of the children of Ammon, however, did not give ear to the words which Jephthah sent to him.

29 Then the spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, and he went through Gilead and Manasseh, and came to Mizpeh of Gilead; and from Mizpeh of Gilead he went over to the children of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah took an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give the children of Ammon into my hands, 31 Then whoever comes out from the door of my house, meeting me when I come back in peace from the children of Ammon, will be the Lord's and I will give him as a burned offering. 32 So Jephthah went over to the children of Ammon to make war on them; and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 And he made an attack on them from Aroer all the way to Minnith, overrunning twenty towns, as far as Abel-cheramim, and put great numbers to the sword. So the children of Ammon were crushed before the children of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came back to his house in Mizpah, and his daughter came out, meeting him on his way with music and with dances; she was his only child; he had no other sons or daughters. 35 And when he saw her he was overcome with grief, and said, Ah! my daughter! I am crushed with sorrow, and it is you who are the chief cause of my trouble; for I have made an oath to the Lord and I may not take it back. 36 And she said to him, My father, you have made an oath to the Lord; do then to me whatever you have said; for the Lord has sent a full reward on your haters, on the children of Ammon. 37 Then she said to her father, Only do this for me: let me have two months to go away into the mountains with my friends, weeping for my sad fate. 38 And he said, Go then. So he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends to the mountains, weeping for her sad fate. 39 And at the end of two months she went back to her father, who did with her as he had said in his oath: and she had never been touched by a man. So it became a rule in Israel, 40 For the women to go year by year sorrowing for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in every year.

121 Now the men of Ephraim came together and took up arms and went over to Zaphon; and they said to Jephthah, Why did you go over to make war against the children of Ammon without sending for us to go with you? Now we will put your house on fire over you. 2 And Jephthah said to them, I and my people were in danger, and the children of Ammon were very cruel to us, and when I sent for you, you gave me no help against them. 3 So when I saw that there was no help to be had from you, I put my life in my hand and went over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord gave them into my hands: why then have you come up to me this day to make war on me? 4 Then Jephthah got together all the men of Gilead and made war on Ephraim; and the men of Gilead overcame Ephraim. 5 And the Gileadites took the crossing-places of Jordan against the Ephraimites; and when any of the men of Ephraim who had gone in flight said, let me go over; the men of Gilead said to him, Are you an Ephraimite? And if he said, No; 6 Then they said to him, Now say Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth, and was not able to say it in the right way; then they took him and put him to death at the crossing-places of Jordan; and at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites were put to death. 7 Now Jephthah was judge of Israel for six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite came to his death, and his body was put to rest in his town, Mizpeh of Gilead.

Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon Judge Israel

8 And after him, Ibzan of Beth-lehem was judge of Israel. 9 He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he sent to other places, and he got thirty wives from other places for his sons. And he was judge of Israel for seven years. 10 And Ibzan came to his death and his body was put to rest at Beth-lehem. 11 And after him, Elon the Zebulonite was judge of Israel; and he was judge of Israel for ten years. 12 And Elon the Zebulonite came to his death, and his body was put to rest in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 13 And after him, Abdon, the son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, was judge of Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty sons' sons who went on seventy young asses; and he was judge of Israel for eight years. 15 And Abdon, the son of Hillel, came to his death, and his body was put to rest in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekites.

The Disciples Pluck Grain on the Sabbath

61 Now it came about that on the Sabbath he was going through the fields of grain, and his disciples took the heads of the grain for food, crushing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, Why do you do what it is not right to do on the Sabbath? 3 And Jesus said, Have you not seen in the Writings what David did when he was in need of food, he, and those who were with him; 4 How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread, which only the priests may take, and gave it to those who were with him? 5 And he said, The Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath.

The Man with a Withered Hand

6 And it came about, on another Sabbath, that he went into the Synagogue and was teaching there. And a man was there whose right hand was dead. 7 And the scribes and Pharisees were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to say something against him. 8 But he had knowledge of their thoughts; and he said to the man whose hand was dead, Get up and come into the middle. And he got up and came forward. 9 And Jesus said, I put the question to you, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to take it away? 10 And looking round on all of them, he said to him, Put out your hand. And he did so: and his hand was made well. 11 But they were full of wrath, and were talking together about what they might do to Jesus.

Jesus Chooses the Twelve

12 And it came about in those days that he went out to the mountain for prayer; and he was all night in prayer to God. 13 And the day came and, turning to his disciples, he made a selection from among them of twelve, to whom he gave the name of Apostles; 14 Simon, to whom he gave the name of Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew 15 And Matthew and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was named the Zealot, 16 And Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, he who was false to him.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

17 And he came down with them to a level place, and a great band of his disciples, and a very great number of people from all Judaea and Jerusalem and from the parts of Tyre and Sidon by the sea, came to give hearing to him, and to be made well from their diseases; 18 And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were made well. 19 And all the people were desiring to be touched by him, for power came from him and made them all well.

Blessings and Woes

20 And turning his eyes to his disciples he said, Happy are you who are poor: for the kingdom of God is yours. 21 Happy are you who are in need of food now: for you will be made full. Happy are you who are weeping now; for you will be glad. 22 Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man. 23 Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets. 24 But unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now. 25 Unhappy are you who are full of food now: for you will be in need. Unhappy are you who are laughing now: for you will be crying in sorrow. 26 Unhappy are you when all men give you their approval: for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 6:1-26

Commentary on Luke 6:1-5

(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.

Commentary on Luke 6:6-11

(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.

Commentary on Luke 6:12-19

(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.

Commentary on Luke 6:20-26

(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!