Chapter 12
1 The 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!"
2 Jephthah 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 .
3 When 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 ?"
4 Then 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 ."
5 The 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 ;"
6 then 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 .
7 Jephthah judged Israel six years . Then Jephthah the Gileadite died , and was buried in the cities of Gilead .
8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel .
9 He 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 .
10 Ibzan died , and was buried at Bethlehem .
11 After him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel ; and he judged Israel ten years .
12 Elon the Zebulunite died , and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun .
13 After him , Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel .
14 He had forty sons and thirty sons ’ sons who rode on seventy donkey colts . He judged Israel eight years .
15 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 .