1And the men of Ephraim were gathered together , and passed northward ; and they said unto Jephthah , Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon , and didst not call us to go with thee ? we will burn thy house upon thee with fire. 2And Jephthah said unto them , I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon ; and when I called you , ye saved me not out of their hand . 3And when I saw that ye saved me not , I put my life in my hand , and passed over against the children of Ammon , and Jehovah delivered them into my hand : wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day , to fight against me ? 4Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead , and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim, ye Gileadites , in the midst of Ephraim, and in the midst of Manasseh . 5And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And it was so , that , when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go over , the men of Gilead said unto him , Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay ; 6then said they unto him , Say now Shibboleth ; and he said Sibboleth ; for he could not frame to pronounce it right : then they laid hold on him , and slew him at the fords of the Jordan . And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand.
The Gileadites' Victory over Ephraim
7And Jephthah judged Israel six years . Then died Jephthah the Gileadite , and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead . 8And after him Ibzan of Beth-lehem judged Israel . 9And he had thirty sons ; and thirty daughters he sent abroad , and thirty daughters he brought in from abroad for his sons . And he judged Israel seven years . 10And Ibzan died , and was buried at Beth-lehem . 11And after him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel ; and he judged Israel ten years . 12And Elon the Zebulunite died , and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun . 13And after him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel . 14And he had forty sons and thirty sons ’ sons , that rode on threescore and ten ass colts : and he judged Israel eight years . 15And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died , and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekites .