| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then the men of Ephraim gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the people of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you with fire!” | 1The men of Ephraim were called together and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, "Why have you crossed over to fight against the Ammonites but didn't call us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you in it!" |
| 2And Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a great struggle with the people of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands. | 2Then Jephthah said to them, "My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites. So I called for you, but you didn't deliver me from their power. |
| 3So when I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the people of Ammon; and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” | 3When I saw that you weren't going to deliver me, I took my life in my own hands and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD handed them over to me. Why then have you come today to fight against me?" |
| 4Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites.” | 4Then Jephthah gathered all of the men of Gilead. They fought and defeated Ephraim, because Ephraim had said, "You Gileadites are Ephraimite fugitives in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh." |
| 5The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” | 5The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim. Whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the Gileadites asked him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he answered, "No," |
| 6then they would say to him, “Then say, ‘Shibboleth’!” And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites. | 6they told him, "Please say Shibboleth." If he said, "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 from Ephraim died. |
| 7And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried among the cities of Gilead. | 7Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. |
| 8After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. | 8Ibzan, who was from Bethlehem, judged Israel after Jephthah |
| 9He had thirty sons. And he gave away thirty daughters in marriage, and brought in thirty daughters from elsewhere for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. | 9and had 30 sons. He gave his 30 daughters in marriage to men outside the tribe and brought back 30 wives for his sons from outside the tribe. Ibzan judged Israel seven years, |
| 10Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem. | 10and when he died, he was buried in Bethlehem. |
| 11After him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years. | 11Elon, who was from Zebulun, judged Israel after Ibzan. He judged Israel 10 years, |
| 12And Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the country of Zebulun. | 12and when he died, he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. |
| 13After him, Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. | 13After Elon, Abdon son of Hillel, who was from Pirathon, judged Israel. |
| 14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Israel eight years. | 14He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons, who rode on 70 donkeys. Abdon judged Israel eight years, |
| 15Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mountains of the Amalekites. | 15and when he died, he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites. |
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