³ When I realized that you would not help me, I put my life in my hands and crossed over to fight against the Ammonites. It is the Lord who delivered them into my hands. Why have you come here today to fight against me?” ⁴ Jephthah then summoned the Gileadites and they fought against the Ephraimites. The Gileadites struck down the Ephraimites, because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are nothing more than refugees from Ephraim and Manasseh.”

⁵ The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan that lead to Ephraim. When one of the survivors of the Ephraimites said, “Let us cross over,” the Gileadites said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he replied, “No,”