Judges 12:4-6
New King James Version
4 Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites (A)are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites.” 5 The Gileadites seized the (B)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,” 6 then they would say to him, “Then say, (C)‘Shibboleth’!”[a] And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not [b]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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 12:6 Lit. a flowing stream; used as a test of dialect
- Judges 12:6 Lit. speak so
Judges 12:4-6
New International Version
4 Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead(A) and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.(B)” 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan(C) leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he replied, “No,” 6 they said, “All right, say ‘Shibboleth.’” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.
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