25 Now, then, are you any better than Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or make war against them?
26 Israel has dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, Aroer and its villages, and all the cities on the banks of the Arnon for three hundred years. Why did you not recover them during that time?
27 As for me, I have not sinned against you, but you wrong me by making war against me. Let the Lord, who is judge, decide this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”
28 But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.
29 The spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and through Mizpah of Gilead as well, and from Mizpah of Gilead he crossed over against the Ammonites.
30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. “If you deliver the Ammonites into my power,” he said,
31 “whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return from the Ammonites in peace shall belong to the Lord. I shall offer him up as a burnt offering.”