¹The men of Ephraim were gathered together , and passed northward ; and they said to Jephthah , “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon , and didn’t call us to go with you ? We will burn your house around you with fire!”

²Jephthah said to them , “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon ; and when I called you , you didn’t save me out of their hand .

³When I saw that you didn’t save me , I put my life in my hand , and passed over against the children of Ammon , and the LORD delivered them into my hand . Why then have you come up to me today , to fight against me ?”

⁴Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead , and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites , in the middle of Ephraim, and in the middle of Manasseh .”

⁵The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. Whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, “Let me go over ,” the men of Gilead said to him , “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No ;”

⁶then they said to him , “Now say ‘Shibboleth ;’” and he said “Sibboleth ”; for he couldn’t manage to pronounce it correctly , then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan . At that time , forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell .

⁷Jephthah judged Israel six years . Then Jephthah the Gileadite died , and was buried in the cities of Gilead .

⁸After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel .

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

¹⁰Ibzan died , and was buried at Bethlehem .

¹¹After him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel ; and he judged Israel ten years .

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

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

¹⁴He had forty sons and thirty sons ’ sons who rode on seventy donkey colts . He judged Israel eight years .

¹⁵Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died , and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites .