25. Do you now have a better case than Moab’s King Balak, Zippor’s son? Did he make an accusation against the Israelites or go to war with them?
26. Why didn’t you take back this territory while the Israelites lived in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the towns along the branches of the Arnon for three hundred years?
27. I haven’t sinned against you, but you’re doing me wrong by making war against me. Let the Lord, who is the judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites!"
28. But the Ammonite king refused to listen to the message that Jephthah sent to him.
29. Then the Lord’s spirit came on Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he crossed over to the Ammonites.
30. Jephthah made a solemn promise to the Lord: "If you will decisively hand over the Ammonites to me,