Jephthah and Ephraim

¹The men of Ephraim gathered together and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go to wage war with the Ammonites and not call us to go with you? We will burn down your house right on top of you.”[#Jdg 8:1]

²Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a very great conflict with the Ammonites. I called you, but you did not save me from their hands.

³When I saw that you were not going to save me, I took my life in my own hands and crossed over to the Ammonites. Then the Lord gave them into my hands. Now why have you come up to me today to wage war against me?”[#1Sa 19:5; 28:21]

⁴Then Jephthah assembled all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim down, for they had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives in Ephraim, living in Ephraim and Manasseh.”

⁵Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan River leading to Ephraim. Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive would say, “Let me cross,” the Gileadite men would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,”[#Jos 22:11; Jdg 3:28]

⁶then they would say to him, “Say, ‘Shibboleth’!” Yet he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they would grab him and kill him at the Jordan fords. During that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.

⁷Jephthah judged Israel for six years. When Jephthah the Gileadite died, he was buried among the cities of Gilead.

Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon

⁸After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

⁹He had thirty sons, and he gave thirty daughters in marriage outside his clan; and he brought thirty daughters from outside for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years.

¹⁰Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

¹¹After him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel for ten years.

¹²Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

¹³After him, Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.

¹⁴He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years.[#Jdg 5:10; 10:4]

¹⁵Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the Amalekite hill country.[#Jdg 5:14]