Judges 11
Open in the reader1Now He-Opens the Witness-Heap-One was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Heap-of-Witness was his father.
2And Heap-of-Witness’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove He-Opens out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”
3So He-Opens fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Good, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.
4Some time later, when the children of Kindred fought against Strives-with-God
5and made war with them, the elders of Heap-of-Witness went to get He-Opens from the land of Good.
6“Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the children of Kindred.”
7He-Opens replied to the elders of Heap-of-Witness, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”
8They answered He-Opens, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the children of Kindred, and become leader over all of us who live in Heap-of-Witness.”
9But He-Opens asked them, “If you take me back to fight the children of Kindred and He-Who-Is gives them to me, will I really be your leader?”
10And the elders of Heap-of-Witness said to He-Opens, “He-Who-Is is our witness if we do not do as you say.”
11So He-Opens went with the elders of Heap-of-Witness, and the people made him their leader and commander. And He-Opens repeated all his terms in the presence of He-Who-Is at Watchtower.
12Then He-Opens sent messengers to the king of the children of Kindred, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?”
13The king of the children of Kindred answered He-Opens’s messengers, “When Strives-with-God came up out of Two-Straits, they seized my land, from the Rushing-Stream to the Pouring-Out and all the way to the Descender. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”
14He-Opens again sent messengers to the king of the children of Kindred
15to tell him, “This is what He-Opens says: Strives-with-God did not take away the land of From-the-Father or of the children of Kindred.
16But when Strives-with-God came up out of Two-Straits, they traveled through the wilderness to the Reed Sea and came to Devoted-Place.
17Then Strives-with-God sent messengers to the king of Red, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Red would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of From-the-Father, but he would not consent. So Strives-with-God stayed in Devoted-Place.
18Then Strives-with-God traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Red and From-the-Father. They came to the east side of the land of From-the-Father and camped on the other side of the Rushing-Stream. But they did not enter the territory of From-the-Father, since the Rushing-Stream was its border.
19And Strives-with-God sent messengers to Tempestuous king of the Mountaineers, who ruled in Reckoning, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’
20But Tempestuous would not trust Strives-with-God to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Trodden-Place, and fought with Strives-with-God.
21Then He-Who-Is, the God of Strives-with-God, delivered Tempestuous and all his people into the hand of Strives-with-God, who defeated them. So Strives-with-God took possession of all the land of the Mountaineers who inhabited that country,
22seizing all the land from the Rushing-Stream to the Pouring-Out and from the wilderness to the Descender.
23Now since He-Who-Is, the God of Strives-with-God, has driven out the Mountaineers from before His people Strives-with-God, should you now possess it?
24Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever He-Who-Is our God has granted us.
25Are you now so much better than Devastator son of Bird, king of From-the-Father? Did he ever contend with Strives-with-God or fight against them?
26For three hundred years Strives-with-God has lived in Reckoning, Bare-Place, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Rushing-Stream. Why did you not take them back during that time?
27I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May He-Who-Is, the Judge, decide today between the children of Strives-with-God and the children of Kindred.”
28But the king of the children of Kindred paid no heed to the message He-Opens sent him.
29Then the Spirit of He-Who-Is came upon He-Opens, and he passed through Heap-of-Witness and Causing-to-Forget, then through Watchtower of Heap-of-Witness. And from there he advanced against the children of Kindred.
30He-Opens made this vow to He-Who-Is: “If indeed You will deliver the children of Kindred into my hand,
31then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the children of Kindred will belong to He-Who-Is, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32So He-Opens crossed over to the children of Kindred to fight against them, and He-Who-Is delivered them into his hand.
33With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Bare-Place to the vicinity of Enumeration, as far as Meadow-of-Vineyards. So the children of Kindred were subdued before the children of Strives-with-God.
34And when He-Opens returned home to Watchtower, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
35As soon as He-Opens saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to He-Who-Is and cannot take it back.”
36“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to He-Who-Is. Do to me as you have said, for He-Who-Is has avenged you of your enemies, the children of Kindred.”
37She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”
38“Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains.
39After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Strives-with-God
40that each year the young women of Strives-with-God go out for four days to lament the daughter of He-Opens the Witness-Heap-One.