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
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Bible Gateway Recommends
![NKJV, Spirit-Filled Life Bible, Third Edition, Red Letter Edition, Comfort Print: Kingdom Equipping Through the Power of the Word](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0044/1309/6047/products/9780529100146.jpg?v=1645115140)
![NKJV, Abide Bible, Red Letter Edition, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New King James Version](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0044/1309/6047/files/9780785226628.jpg?v=1710666135)
![NKJV, Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, 2nd Edition, Comfort Print: Growing in Knowledge and Understanding of God Through His Word](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0044/1309/6047/products/9780785225362.jpg?v=1659555613)
![NKJV, The Everyday Bible, Red Letter, Comfort Print: 365 Daily Readings Through the Whole Bible](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0044/1309/6047/files/9780785262961_cd87f9c4-d31b-4f28-8933-78a8126ad794.jpg?v=1702202546)
![NKJV, Woman's Study Bible, Red Letter, Full-Color: Receiving God's Truth for Balance, Hope, and Transformation](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0044/1309/6047/products/9780718086749.jpg?v=1645115239)