Judges 12

1 And the men of Ephraim are called together, and pass over northward, and say to Jephthah, 'Wherefore has thou passed over to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and on us hast not called to go with thee? thy house we burn over thee with fire.'

The men of the tribe of Ephraim summoned their soldiers, and they crossed [the Jordan River] to [the town of] Zaphon [to talk with] Jephthah. They said to him, “(Why did you not ask us for help?/You should have requested us) to help your army fight the Ammon people-group. So we will burn down your house while you are in it.”

2 And Jephthah saith unto them, 'A man of great strife I have been (I and my people) with the Bene-Ammon, and I call you, and ye have not saved me out of their hand,

Jephthah replied, “The Ammon people-group were oppressing us greatly. When we were prepared to start to attack them, I requested you to come and help us, but you refused. My men and I defeated the Ammon people-group, but you did not help us.

3 and I see that thou art not a saviour, and I put my life in my hand, and pass over unto the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah giveth them into my hand — and why have ye come up unto me this day to fight against me?'

When I saw that you would not help us, I was willing to be killed in the battle against the Ammon people-group. But Yahweh helped us to defeat them. [You did not help us when we requested it before], so (why have you come here today to fight against me?/you should not have come here today to fight against me.)” [RHQ]

4 And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and fighteth with Ephraim, and the men of Gilead smite Ephraim, because they said, 'Fugitives of Ephraim [are] ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim — in the midst of Manasseh.'

Then Jephthah summoned the men of [the] Gilead [region] to fight [against the men of the tribe of] Ephraim. The men of the tribe of Ephraim said, “You men from [the] Gilead [region] are men who deserted us. Long ago you left us and moved to the area between our tribe and the tribe of Manasseh.” [Because of their saying that], the men of [the] Gilead [region] attacked the men of the tribe of Ephraim.

5 And Gilead captureth the passages of the Jordan to Ephraim, and it hath been, when [any of] the fugitives of Ephraim say, 'Let me pass over,' and the men of Gilead say to him, 'An Ephramite thou?' and he saith, 'No;'

The men of Gilead captured that (ford/place where people can walk across) at the Jordan [River] to go to the land where the tribe of Ephraim live. Whenever one of the soldiers from the tribe of Ephraim came to the ford to try to escape, he would say, “Let me cross the river.” Then the men of Gilead would ask him, “Are you from the tribe of Ephraim?” If he said “No,”

6 that they say to him, 'Say, I pray thee, Shibboleth;' and he saith, 'Sibboleth,' and is not prepared to speak right — and they seize him, and slaughter him at the passages of the Jordan, and there fall at that time, of Ephraim, forty and two chiefs.

they would say to him, “Say the word ‘Shibboleth’.” The men of Ephraim could not pronounce that word correctly. So if the person from the tribe of Ephraim said ‘Sibboleth’, [they would know that he was lying and that he was really from the tribe of Ephraim, and] they would kill him there at the ford. So the men of Gilead killed 42,000 people from the tribe of Ephraim at that time.

7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years, and Jephthah the Gileadite dieth, and is buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.

Jephthah, the man from [the] Gilead [region], was a leader of the Israeli people for six years. Then he died and was buried in a town in [the] Gilead [region].

8 And after him Ibzan of Beth-Lehem judgeth Israel,

After Jephthah died, a man named Ibzan, from Bethlehem, became the leader of the Israeli people.

9 and he hath thirty sons and thirty daughters, he hath sent without and thirty daughters hath brought in to his sons from without; and he judgeth Israel seven years.

He had 30 sons and 30 daughters. He forced all his daughters to marry men who were not in his clan, and brought women from outside his clan to marry his sons. He was the leader of the Israeli people for seven years.

10 And Ibzan dieth, and is buried in Beth-Lehem.

When he died, he was buried in Bethlehem.

11 And after him Elon the Zebulunite judgeth Israel, and he judgeth Israel ten years,

After Ibzan died, a man named Elon, from the tribe of Zebulun, became the leader of the Israeli people. He was their leader for ten years.

12 and Elon the Zebulunite dieth, and is buried in Aijalon, in the land of Zebulun.

Then he died and was buried in Aijalon [city] in the area where the tribe of Zebulun lives.

13 And after him, Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, judgeth Israel,

After Elon died, a man named Abdon who was the son of Hillel, from Pirathon [city, in the area where the tribe of Ephraim live] became the leader of the Israeli people.

14 and he hath forty sons, and thirty grandsons, riding on seventy ass-colts, and he judgeth Israel eight years.

He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons. Each of them had his own donkey on which to ride. Abdon was the leader of the Israeli people for eight years.

15 And Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, dieth, and is buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekite.

When Abdon died, he was buried in Pirathon, in the hilly area where the descendants of Amalek lived previously, [but now it is the area where the tribe of Ephraim lives].