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11 Now Yiftach the Gileadi was a gibbor chayil, and he was the ben of an isha zonah; and Gil‘ad fathered Yiftach.
2 And Gil’ad’s isha bore him banim; and the bnei haisha grew up, and they thrust out Yiftach, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our bais avi; for thou art the ben isha acheret.
3 Then Yiftach fled from his achim, and dwelt in Eretz Tov; and there were gathered anashim reikim (outlaws) around Yiftach, and went out with him.
4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the Bnei Ammon made war against Yisroel.
5 And it was so, that when the Bnei Ammon made war against Yisroel, the ziknei Gil‘ad went to fetch Yiftach out of Eretz Tov;
6 And they said unto Yiftach, Come, and be our katzin (leader), that we may fight with the Bnei Ammon.
7 And Yiftach said unto the ziknei Gil‘ad, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my bais avi? And why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
8 And the ziknei Gil‘ad said unto Yiftach, Nevertheless, we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the Bnei Ammon, and be our rosh over all the inhabitants of Gil‘ad.
9 And Yiftach said unto the ziknei Gil‘ad, If ye bring me home again to fight against the Bnei Ammon, and Hashem deliver them before me, shall I be your rosh?
10 And the ziknei Gil‘ad said unto Yiftach, Hashem be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
11 Then Yiftach went with the ziknei Gil‘ad, and the people made him rosh and katzin over them; and Yiftach uttered all his words before Hashem in Mitzpah.
12 And Yiftach sent malachim unto the melech Bnei Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
13 And the melech Bnei Ammon answered unto the malachim of Yiftach, Because Yisroel took away my land, when they came up out of Mitzrayim, from Arnon even unto Yabbok, and unto Yarden; now therefore give back those lands again b’shalom (peaceably).
14 And Yiftach sent malachim again unto the melech Bnei Ammon;
15 And said unto him, Thus saith Yiftach, Yisroel took not away Eretz Moav, nor the Eretz Bnei Ammon;
16 But when Yisroel came up from Mitzrayim, and walked through the midbar until Yam Suf, and came to Kadesh;
17 Then Yisroel sent malachim unto the melech Edom, saying, Let me, now, pass through thy land; but the melech Edom would not pay heed thereto. In like manner they sent unto the melech Moav; but he would not consent; Yisroel abode in Kadesh.
18 Then they went along through the midbar, skirted the Eretz Edom, and Eretz Moav, and came by the east side of Eretz Moav, encamped on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the territory of Moav; for the Arnon was the boundary of Moav.
19 And Yisroel sent malachim unto Sichon melech HaEmori, the melech Cheshbon; and Yisroel said unto him, Let us pass, now, through thy land into my makom.
20 But Sichon trusted not Yisroel to pass through his territory; but Sichon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Yahatz, and fought against Yisroel.
21 And Hashem Elohei Yisroel delivered Sichon and all his people into the yad Yisroel, and they struck them down; so Yisroel possessed all the Eretz HaEmori, the inhabitants of that country.
22 And they possessed all the territory HaEmori, from Arnon even unto Yabbok, and from the midbar even unto Yarden.
23 So now Hashem Elohei Yisroel hath dispossessed HaEmori from before His people Yisroel, and shouldest thou possess it?
24 Wilt not thou possess that which Kemosh eloheicha giveth thee to possess? So whatever Hashem Eloheinu shall take possession of before us, that will we possess.
25 And now art thou anything better than Balak ben Tzippor, melech Moav? Did he ever strive against Yisroel, or did he ever fight against them,
26 While Yisroel dwelt in Cheshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her settlements, and in all the towns that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred shanah? Why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me; Hashem HaShofet be judge this day between the Bnei Yisroel and the Bnei Ammon.
28 Howbeit the melech Bnei Ammon paid heed not unto the words of Yiftach which he sent him.
29 Then the Ruach Hashem came upon Yiftach, and he passed over Gil‘ad, and Menasheh, passed over Mitzpeh of Gil‘ad, and from Mitzpeh of Gil‘ad he passed over unto the Bnei Ammon.
30 And Yiftach vowed a neder unto Hashem, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the Bnei Ammon into mine hands,
31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the delet of my bais to meet me, when I return b’shalom from the Bnei Ammon, shall surely be Hashem’s, and I will offer it up for an olah.
32 So Yiftach passed over unto the Bnei Ammon to fight against them; and Hashem delivered them into his hands.
33 And he struck them down from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnit, even 20 towns, unto Avel-Kramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the Bnei Ammon were subdued before the Bnei Yisroel.
34 And Yiftach came to Mitzpah unto his bais, hinei, his bat came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances; she was his yechidah (only one); beside her he had neither ben nor bat.
35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, Alas, my bat! Thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto Hashem, and I cannot go back.
36 And she said unto him, Avi, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto Hashem, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as Hashem hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the Bnei Ammon.
37 She said unto her av, Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two chodashim, that I may go up and down upon the hills, and bewail betulai (my virginity), I and my friends.
38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two chodashim; and she went with her companions, and bewailed her betulim (virginity) upon the hills.
39 And it came to pass at the end of two chodashim, that she returned unto her av, who did with her according to his neder which he had vowed; and she knew no man. And it was a chok in Yisroel,
40 That the banot Yisroel went yearly to lament the bat Yiftach the Gileadi arba’at yamim bashanah.
12 And the ish Ephrayim gathered themselves together, and went into Tzafon, and said unto Yiftach, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the Bnei Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? We will burn thine bais upon thee with eish.
2 And Yiftach said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the Bnei Ammon; and when I called you, ye saved me not out of their hands.
3 And when I saw that you were not my moshi’a, I put my nefesh in my hands, and passed over against the Bnei Ammon, and Hashem delivered them into my yad; why then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?
4 Then Yiftach gathered together all the Anshei Gil‘ad, and fought with Ephrayim; and the anshei Gil‘ad struck down Ephrayim, because they said, Ye Gilead are fugitives of Ephrayim among the Ephrayim, and among the Menasheh.
5 And the Gilead took the fords of the Yarden before the Ephrayim; and it was so, that when those Ephrayim which were escaped said, Let me cross over; that the anshei Gil‘ad said unto him, Art thou an Ephrati? If he said, No,
6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibbolet; and he said Sibbolet, for he could not pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slaughtered him at the fords of the Yarden; and there fell at that time of the Ephrayim forty and two thousand.
7 And Yiftach judged Yisroel shesh shanim. Then died Yiftach the Gileadi, and was buried in one of the towns of Gil‘ad.
8 And after him Ibtzan of Beit-Lechem judged Yisroel.
9 And he had shloshim banim, and shloshim banot, whom he gave away in marriage outside [his eleph], and took in sloshim banot from outside for his banim. And he judged Yisroel shevat shanim.
10 Then died Ibtzan, and was buried at Beit-Lechem.
11 And after him Elon, a Zevuloni, judged Yisroel; and he judged Yisroel eser shanim.
12 And Elon the Zevuloni died, and was buried in Ayalon in Eretz Zevulun.
13 And after him Avdon ben Hillel, a Piratoni, judged Yisroel.
14 And he had arba’im banim and thirty grandsons, that rode on threescore and ten donkeys; and he judged Yisroel shmoneh shanim.
15 And Avdon ben Hillel the Piratoni died, and was buried in Piraton in Eretz Ephrayim, in the har HaAmaleki.
1 Bereshis (in the Beginning) was the Dvar Hashem [YESHAYAH 55:11; BERESHIS 1:3], and the Dvar Hashem was agav (along with, etzel, Mishle 8:30;30:4) Hashem, and the Dvar Hashem was nothing less, by nature, than Elohim! [Psa 56:11(10); Yn 17:5; Rev. 19:13 i.e., the Ma’amar Memra]
2 Bereshis (in the Beginning) this Dvar Hashem was with Hashem [Prov 8:30].
3 All things through him came to be, and without him came to be not one thing which came into being. [Ps 33:6,9; Prov 30:4]
4 In him was Chayyim (Life) and the Chayyim (Life) was the Ohr (Light) of Bnei Adam. [TEHILLIM 36:10 (9)]
5 And the Ohr shines in the choshech [TEHILLIM 18:28], and the choshech did not grasp it. [YESHAYAH 9:1]
6 There came an ish haElohim (a man of G-d), having been sent from Hashem. His name was Yochanan.
7 This Yochanan came for an eidus (witness), that he might give solemn edut (testimony) about the Ohr, that kol Bnei Adam might have emunah through him.
8 This ish haElohim was not the Ohr, but he came that he might give solemn edut (testimony) about the Ohr.
9 The Ohr, the Ohr HaAmitti (the True Light), which gives rational haskalah (enlightenment) to kol Bnei Adam (all mankind), was coming into the Olam Hazeh.
10 He was in the Olam Hazeh, the Olam (world) came to be through him [Ps 33:6,9]; yet the Olam Hazeh did not recognize him.
11 He came to his own, and his own were not mekabel (accepting) the Kabbalus HaMalchus of him [YESHAYAH 53:3].
12 But as many as him lekabel pnei Moshiach (receive him as Moshiach), to them he gave the tokef (authority) to become in fact yeladim haElohim [DEVARIM 14:1].
13 He gave this tokef to the ones whose being born was not by the agency of natural descent, nor by the ratzon (will) of basar (fallen human nature), nor by the ratzon of a gever (male)—rather, to the ones born of G-d (Yn 3:3,7).
14 And the Dvar Hashem took on gufaniyut (corporeality) and made his sukkah, his Mishkan (Tabernacle) among us [YESHAYAH 7:14], and we [Shlichim, 1Y 1:1-2] gazed upon his Kavod [SHEMOT 33:18; 40:34; YESHAYAH 60:1-2], the Shechinah of the Ben Yachid from Elohim HaAv, full of Hashem’s Chesed v’Emes.
15 And Yochanan gives solemn edut (testimony) about him and has cried out, This was he about whom I said, Hu HaBah (He who comes [Gn 49:10; Ezek 21:27]) after me is really before me in priority, because, before I came to be, he was (Yn 8:58).
16 For from the kol melo (all the plentitude) of him we all received Chesed upon Chesed.
17 Because the matan Torah (giving of the Torah) was graciously bestowed through Moshe [Rabbeinu] [DEVARIM 32:46 SHEMOT 31:18; 34:28], but Chesed and Emes of Hashem came through [Rebbe,] Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua [Ex 34:6; Ps 25:10; 40:11; 85:11; Yochanan 1:49].
18 No one has ever seen Hashem [Ex 33:20]. It is Elohim the Ben Yachid [who shares the nature of Hashem, the Chochman Ben Elohim at his side, see very importantly Mishle 8:30; 30:4)], it is he, the one being in the kheyk (bosom) of HaAv, this one is Hashem’s definitive midrash (exegesis).
19 And this is the solemn edut (testimony) of Yochanan, when those of Yehudah sent kohanim and L’viim from Yerushalayim to him that they might ask him, Mi atah? (Who are you?).
20 Yochanan made hoda’a (confession, admission)‖he did not fail to make hoda’a‖and said clearly, I am not the [Rebbe,] Melech HaMoshiach.
21 And they asked Yochanan, What, then? Are you Eliyahu HaNavi? And Yochanan says, I am not. Are you the Navi? (DEVARIM 18:15,18) And he answered, Lo (No).
22 They said then to him, Mi atah? That we may give a teshuvah (answer) to the ones who sent us. What do you say about yourself?
23 Yochanan said, I am a KOL KOREY BAMIDBAR, make straight the DERECH HASHEM! (YESHAYAH 40:3, TARGUM HASHIVIM), as Yeshayah HaNavi said.
24 And the ones that had been sent were of the Perushim.
25 And the Perushim asked Yochanan, If you are not the [Rebbe,] Melech HaMoshiach nor Eliyahu nor the Navi, then why do you administer the mikveh mayim’s tevilah?
26 Yochanan answered the Perushim, I give a tevilah in a mikveh mayim; among you is standing one of whom you do not have da’as.
27 Hu HaBah (he who comes, i.e., the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach who is coming into the Olam Hazeh), that is, He who comes after me, is one that I am not worthy even to untie the thong of his sandal.
28 These events took place in Beit-Anyah (Bethany), beyond the Yarden River, which Yochanan was using as a mikveh mayim in which to administer the tevilah.
101 (Of Dovid. Mizmor) I will sing of chesed and mishpat; unto Thee, Hashem, will I sing.
2 I will study the derech tamim. O when wilt Thou come unto me? I will walk within my bais with tam levav.
3 I will set no devar beliyya’al before mine eyes; I hate the work of them that fall away; it shall not cleave to me.
4 A lev ikkesh (perverse heart) shall be far from me; I will not tolerate rah.
5 The one who slandereth ba’seter (in secret) his neighbor, him will I destroy; him that hath haughty einayim (eyes) and a proud levav will I not endure.
6 Mine eyes shall be upon the ne’emenei eretz (faithful of the land), that they may dwell with me; he that walketh in a derech tamim, he shall minister to me.
7 He that worketh remiyyah (deceit) shall not dwell within my bais; he that speaketh shekarim (falsehoods, lies) shall not continue in my presence.
8 In the bokerim I will destroy all rishei eretz (wicked ones of the land); that I may cut off all doers of evil from the Ir Hashem.
13 Even in sekhok (laughter) the lev is sad, and the acharit (latter end) of that simchah is grief.
14 The sug (backslider, faithless one) in lev is filled with his own drakhim (roads), but an ish tov shall be satisfied from above himself.
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