Jefutha ne Baifureimi
1 Bathu be Ifureimi bakadana balume babo be ngwa ngono bakatjulukila ku Zafoni ngono bakadwa Jefutha bakati, “Ini wayenda kunogwa ne Baamoni usatidana tikayenda nawe? Towokupisila mu ng'umba nge moto.” 2 Ngono Jefutha kabadwa kati, “Imi ne bathu bangu takabe mu ngwa hwulu kwazo ne Baamoni, ndakati ndimudana amuzondisunungula mu maboko abo. 3 Ndakati ndibona musingadibhatshe, ndikalonga butjilo gwangu mu mbatsha, ndikatjuluka kunogwa ne Baamoni, ngono Yahwe bakabalonga mu maboko angu. Ngono nasi ini mabuya kugwa nami?”
4 Ipapo Jefutha kakubunganya balume bose be Giliyadi kagwa ne Baifureimi. Bagiliyadi bakababulaya ngobe Baifureimi bakabe bati, “Imwi Bagiliyadi mu batizhi be Ifureimi ne Manase.” 5 Bagiliyadi bakatolela Baifureimi maambuko wose e Jorodani, ngono kwakabe kuti mmwe we batizhi be Ifureimi ezha eti, “Imani nditjuluke,” balume be Giliyadi banowobe bembhuzwa beti, “Apa u N'ifureimi kene?” Ha eti, “Aa,” 6 banowobe bendwa beti, uti, “Shibholeti.” Ngono apa eti, “Sibholeti,” ngoti e konegwa ngo dana zubanana, banombhata be mbulayila pa maambuko e Jorodani. Ngono kukabulawa Baifureimi bali zwiwulu zwili makumi manna ana zwibili (42 000) mu tjibaka itjetjo.
7 Jefutha wakabe ntungamili we Iziraela kwe makole ali tathatu. Jefutha we Giliyadi kafa, ngono kabiganyigwa mu nzi uwe mu Giliyadi.
Ibizani na Eloni na Abidoni
8 Shule kukwe, Ibizani we Bhetelehema katungamila Iziraela. 9 Wakabe ana bakololo bali makumi matatu (30) ne bakololokadzi bali makumi matatu (30). Kalobodza bakololokadzi babe kuzhe kwe ludzi gugwe, ngono bakololo babe bakalobola Baanadi bali makumi matatu (30) kube bakadzi kudwa ku ludzi gu kuzhe. Izibani wakatungamila Iziraela kwe makole ali tendeka. 10 Kudwapo Izibani kafa ngono kabiganyiwa mu Bhetelehema.
11 Shule kukwe, Eloni we N'zibuloni katungamila Iziraela kwe makole ali gumi (10). 12 Kudwapo Eloni kafa, ngono kabiganyiwa mu Aijaloni mu shango ye Zibuluni.
13 Shule kukwe, Abhidoni nkololo wa Hileli kudwa ku Piratoni katungamila Iziraela. 14 Wakabe ana bakololo bali makumi manna (40) ne zwizekugwana zwili makumi matatu (30), bakabe tatha madonki ali makumi ali tendeka (70). Wakatungamila Iziraela kwe makole ali zhanakadzi. 15 Kudwapo Abhidoni nkololo wa Hileli kafa, ngono kabiganyigwa ku Piratoni mu Ifureimi, mu shango ye matuthu ye Baamaleki.
The Ephraim Tribe Fights Jephthah's Army
1 The men of the Ephraim tribe got together an army and went across the Jordan River to Zaphon to meet with Jephthah. They said, “Why did you go to war with the Ammonites without asking us to help? Just for that, we're going to burn down your house with you inside!”
2 “But I did ask for your help,” Jephthah answered. “That was back when the people of Gilead and I were having trouble with the Ammonites, and you wouldn't do a thing to help us. 3 So when we realized you weren't coming, we risked our lives and attacked the Ammonites. And the Lord let us defeat them. There's no reason for you to come here today to attack me.”
4 But the men from Ephraim said, “You people of Gilead are nothing more than refugees from Ephraim. You even live on land that belongs to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.”
So Jephthah called together the army of Gilead, then they attacked and defeated the army from Ephraim. 5 The army of Gilead also posted guards at all the places where the soldiers from Ephraim could cross the Jordan River to return to their own land.
Whenever one of the men from Ephraim would try to cross the river, the guards would say, “Are you from Ephraim?”
“No,” the man would answer, “I'm not from Ephraim.”
6 The guards would then tell them to say “Shibboleth,” because they knew that people of Ephraim could say “Sibboleth,” but not “Shibboleth.”
If the man said “Sibboleth,” the guards would grab him and kill him right there. Altogether, 42,000 men from Ephraim were killed in the battle and at the Jordan.
7 Jephthah was a leader of Israel for six years, before he died and was buried in his hometown Mizpah in Gilead.
Ibzan
8 Ibzan, the next leader of Israel, came from Bethlehem. 9 He had 30 daughters and 30 sons, and he let them all marry outside his clan.
Ibzan was a leader for seven years, 10 before he died and was buried in Bethlehem.
Elon
11 Elon from the Zebulun tribe was the next leader of Israel. He was a leader for ten years, 12 before he died and was buried in Aijalon that belonged to the Zebulun tribe.
Abdon
13-15 Abdon the son of Hillel was the next leader of Israel. He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons, and each one of them had his own donkey. Abdon was a leader for eight years, before he died and was buried in his hometown of Pirathon, which is located in the part of the hill country of Ephraim where Amalekites used to live.