32 | JEPHTHAH.
HERALD.
So spake the haughty and rebellious Ammon
Defying your most gentle words with scorn:
Tell Jephthah: Israel took away my land
When they came out of Egypt from the river
Of Ammon unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan. —
Wherefore, I pray thee, sheathe thy sword, restore
Peaceably these my lands, and go in peace,
Lest wrath, being kindled, consume thee utterly.
JEPHTHAH.
Let yet another herald stand before me
Fresh, and go thou, swiftest of messengers,
And sleep and eat a little, and to-morrow
Thou shalt have guerdon of thy faithfulness.
[Ext Herald.
Enter Second Herald.
But now, sir, go to this rebellious king
And say to him: Thus Jephthah, judge of Israel,
With gentle words answers thy greediness :
Israel took not thy land, nor that of Moab:
But, coming out of Egypt, through the sea
And over wilderness, to Kadesh came.
Our people sent a message unto Edom
Unto the king thereof, and prayed his grace,
To let them pass through his dominions
And unto Moab: and they answered Nay.
So Israel abode in Kadesh: then
Passing through all the desert round about