Judges 12:1-7

Living Bible

12 Then the tribe of Ephraim mobilized its army at Zaphon and sent this message to Jephthah: “Why didn’t you call for us to help you fight against Ammon? We are going to burn down your house, with you in it!”

² “I summoned you, but you refused to come!” Jephthah retorted. “You failed to help us in our time of need, ³ so I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the Lord helped me to conquer the enemy. Is that anything for you to fight us about?”

⁴ Then Jephthah, furious at the taunt of Ephraim that the men of Gilead were mere outcasts^[a] and the scum of the earth, mobilized his army and attacked the army of Ephraim. ⁵ He captured the fords of the Jordan behind the army of Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to cross the river, the Gilead guards challenged him.

“Are you a member of the tribe of Ephraim?” they asked. If the man replied that he was not, ⁶ then they demanded, “Say ‘Shibboleth.’” But if he couldn’t pronounce the H and said, “Sibboleth” instead of “Shibboleth,” he was dragged away and killed. So forty-two thousand people of Ephraim died there at that time.

⁷ Jephthah was Israel’s judge for six years. At his death he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.