Judges 12

Jephthah Handles Beef with Ephraim

1 The men from Ephraim pulled up, deep and mad, talking to Jephthah like, “Why did you go to war against Ammon without calling us? We should burn your house down with you inside!”

2 Jephthah told them, “Man, I did call you all! My people and I were beefing heavy with Ammon, but you all did not pull up to help.”

3 “So I took my chances and went to war, God gave me the W. Now you all want to come at me today,”

4 Jephthah gathered up the men of Gilead and went to war with Ephraim. The Gileadites smashed them because Ephraim was calling them out like, “You all Gileadites are nothing but fake Ephraimites living between us and Manasseh.”

The Shibboleth Test

5 Gilead locked down the fords of the Jordan River to catch any Ephraimite trying to escape.

6 When a man tried to cross, they would ask, “Are you from Ephraim?” If he said, “Nah,” they would tell him, “Say Shibboleth.” But he would say “Sibboleth” because he could not pronounce it right, then they would grab him and kill him right there. That day, they laid down 42,000 from Ephraim.

Jephthah’s Death

7 Jephthah ran Israel for 6 years. Then he died and was buried in his city in Gilead.

Ibzan Judges Israel

8 After Jephthah, Ibzan from Bethlehem stepped up to judge Israel.

9 He had 30 sons and 30 daughters. He married his daughters off and brought in wives from outside for his sons. He judged Israel for 7 years.

10 Then he died and was buried in Bethlehem.

Elon Judges Israel

11 Next up was Elon from the tribe of Zebulun. He judged Israel for 10 years.

12 Then he died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

Abdon Judges Israel

13 After him, Abdon son of Hillel from Pirathon judged Israel.

14 He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons, all of them rolling deep on 70 donkeys. He judged Israel for 8 years.

15 Then he died and was buried in Pirathon, in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.