Judg 10:7-18, 11:12-40, 1Sa 11:2, 2Sa 10:1-5, 2Ki 24:2, 2Ch 20:1 | ESV | STEP | So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel , and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites ,

Judges 10:7-18

7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and ^ahe sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, 8 and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

10 And the people of Israel ^bcried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because ^cwe have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11 And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you ^dfrom the Egyptians and ^efrom the Amorites, ^ffrom the Ammonites and ^gfrom the Philistines? 12 The Sidonians also, and ^hthe Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I ⁱsaved you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have ^jforsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out ^kto the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” 15 And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and ^lhe became impatient over the misery of Israel.

17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at ^mMizpah. 18 And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? ⁿHe shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Judges 11:12-40

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, ^o“Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the ^pArnon to the ^qJabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ^rIsrael did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness ^sto the Red Sea and ^tcame to Kadesh. 17 ^uIsrael then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ ^vbut the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^wremained at Kadesh.

18 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and ^xwent around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and ^yarrived on the east side of the land of Moab and ^zcamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19 ^aaIsrael then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’ 20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what ^abChemosh your god gives you to possess? ^acAnd all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than ^adBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel lived ^aein Heshbon and its villages, and ^afin Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. ^agThe Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.

Jephthah’s Tragic Vow

29 ^ahThen the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah ^aimade a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever ^{▼▼Or whoever} comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites ^akshall be the Lord’s, and ^alI will offer it ^{▼▼Or him} up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of ^anMinnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

34 Then Jephthah came to his home at ^aoMizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him ^apwith tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, ^aqand I cannot take back my vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, ^arwho did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

1 Samuel 11:2

2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, ^asthat I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus ^atbring disgrace on all Israel.”

2 Samuel 10:1-5

David Defeats Ammon and Syria

1 ^auAfter this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. 2 And David said, “I will deal loyally ^{▼▼Or kindly; twice in this verse} with Hanun the son of ^awNahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the Ammonites. 3 But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, ^axat their hips, and sent them away. 5 When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”

2 Kings 24:2

2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the ^ayChaldeans and ^azbands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^baaccording to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets.

2 Chronicles 20:1

Jehoshaphat’s Prayer

1 After this ^bbthe Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, ^{▼▼Compare 26:7; Hebrew Ammonites} came against Jehoshaphat for battle.