5. And when the Ammonites attacked Israel, Gilead’s elders went to bring Jephthah back from the land of Tob.
6. They said to him, "Come be our commander so we can fight against the Ammonites."
7. But Jephthah replied to Gilead’s elders, "Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me away from my father’s household? Why are you coming to me now when you’re in trouble?"
8. Gilead’s elders answered Jephthah, "That may be, but now we’re turning back to you, so come with us and fight the Ammonites. Then you’ll become the leader over us and everyone who lives in Gilead."
9. And Jephthah said to Gilead’s elders, "If you bring me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them over to me, I alone will be your leader."
10. Gilead’s elders replied to him, "The Lord is our witness; we will surely do what you’ve said."
11. So Jephthah went with Gilead’s elders, and the people made him leader and commander over them. At Mizpah before the Lord, Jephthah repeated everything he had said.
12. Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, "What is the problem between us that you’ve come against me to make war in my land?"
13. The Ammonite king responded to Jephthah’s messengers, "When the Israelites were coming up from Egypt, they seized my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peacefully!"
14. Then Jephthah again sent messengers to the Ammonite king
15. and said to him, “Jephthah states: Israel didn’t seize the land of the Moabites or the land of the Ammonites.
16. When they were coming up from Egypt, the Israelites went through the desert to the Reed Sea and came to Kadesh.
17. Then the Israelites sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please allow us to pass through your land’; but the Edomite king refused. They sent the same request to the king of Moab, and he was unwilling. So the Israelites stayed at Kadesh.
18. “Later they journeyed into the desert but went around the lands of Edom and Moab, arriving on the east side of the land of Moab and setting up camp on the other side of the Arnon. They never entered Moabite territory, because the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.
19. Then the Israelites sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites and king of Heshbon and said to him, ‘Please allow us to pass through your land to our own place.’