Jephthah was chosen to be their leader

11 There was a man from the Gilead region named Jephthah. He was a great warrior. His father was also named Gilead. But his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead’s wife gave birth to several sons. When they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave home, saying to him, “You are the son of a prostitute, not the son of our mother. So when our father dies, you will not receive any of his property.” 3 So Jephthah ran away from his brothers, and he went to the Tob region. While he was there, some worthless men started to spend a lot of time with him.

4 Some time later, the Ammon people-group started to fight against the Israelis. 5 When that happened [DOU], the leaders of the Gilead region went to Jephthah to bring him back from the Tob region to their area. 6 They said to him, “Come with us and lead our army, and help us to fight against the men from the Ammon people-group!”

7 But Jephthah replied, “You hated me [RHQ] previously! You forced me to leave my father’s house! So why are you coming to me now, asking me to help you when you are experiencing trouble?”

8 The leaders from Gilead replied, “Yes, we are having trouble, and that is the reason that we have come to you now. If you come with us and help us to fight against the Ammon people-group, after we defeat them, we will appoint you to be the leader of all us people in the Gilead region.”

9 Jephthah replied, “If I go back to Gilead with you to fight against the Ammon people-group, and if Yahweh helps us to defeat them, will you truly appoint me to be your leader?” 10 They replied, “Yahweh is listening to everything that we say. So he will punish us if we do not do everything that you tell us to do.” 11 So Jephthah went with them back to the Gilead region, and the people appointed him to be their leader and the commander of their army. And Jephthah solemnly promised to Yahweh there at Mizpah to serve him well.