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Therefore when all the men of Gilead were called to Jephthah, he fought against Ephraim; and [the] men of Gilead smote Ephraim; for he said (for they said), Gilead is fugitive, either exiled, from Ephraim, and in the midst of Ephraim, and of Manasseh.

And the men of Gilead occupied the fords of (the) Jordan, by which Ephraim should turn again. And when a man, fleeing of the number of Ephraim, had come to the fords, and had said, I beseech, that ye suffer me pass; men of Gilead said to him, Whether thou art a man of Ephraim? And when he had said, I am not (And when a man, fleeing from the Ephraimites, had come to the crossing, and had said, I beseech thee, that ye allow me to cross over; the men of Gilead said to him, Art thou a man of Ephraim? And when he had said, I am not),

they asked him, Say thou therefore Shibboleth, which is interpreted, an ear of corn. Which answered, Sibboleth, and he might not bring forth (the word for) an ear of corn by the same letter. And anon they took and strangled him in that passing (over) of (the) Jordan; and two and forty thousand men of Ephraim felled down in that time. (they said to him, Then say thou Shibboleth, which is translated, an ear of corn. And he answered, Sibboleth, and he could not bring forth the word for an ear of corn. And at once they took and strangled him at that crossing of the Jordan River; and forty-two thousand men of Ephraim were killed at that time.)

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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) 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,” 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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