Jephthah and Ephraim
1The Ephraimite forces were called out, and they crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We’re going to burn down your house over your head.”
2Jephthah answered, “I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn’t save me out of their hands. 3When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?”
4Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan 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,” 6they 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.
7Jephthah led12:7 Traditionally judged; also in verses 8-14 Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in a town in Gilead.
Ibzan, Elon and Abdon
8After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. 9He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. 10Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
11After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. 12Then Elon died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
13After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. 14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. 15Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
ዮፍታሔና ኤፍሬም
1የኤፍሬም ሰዎች ኀይላቸውን አሰባስበው ወደ ጻፎን በመሻገር ዮፍታሔን፣ “አሞናውያንን ለመውጋት ስትወጣ አብረንህ እንድንሄድ ያልጠራኸን ለምንድን ነው? ቤትህን በላይህ ላይ እናቃጥለዋለን አሉት።”
2ዮፍታሔም መልሶ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “እኔና ሕዝቤ ከአሞናውያን ጋር ከፍተኛ ትግል ገጥመን በነበረበት ጊዜ ጠርቼያችሁ ከእጃቸው አላዳናችሁኝም፤ 3እኔም እንደማትረዱኝ በተረዳሁ ጊዜ በሕይወቴ ቈርጬ አሞናውያንን ለመውጋት ተሻገርሁ፤ እግዚአብሔርም ድሉን ሰጠኝ። ታዲያ ዛሬ እኔን ለመውጋት የመጣችሁት ለምንድን ነው?”
4ከዚያም ዮፍታሔ የገለዓድን ሰዎች አሰባስቦ ከኤፍሬም ጋር ተዋጋ። ኤፍሬማውያን ገለዓዳውያንን፣ “እናንተ ገለዓዳውያን ከኤፍሬምና ከምናሴ የከዳችሁ ናችሁ” ይሏቸው ስለ ነበር በብርቱ መቷቸው። 5ገለዓዳውያን ወደ ኤፍሬም የሚያሻግሩትን የዮርዳኖስን መልካዎች ያዙ። ታዲያ አምልጦ የሚሸሽ አንድ ኤፍሬማዊ ለመሻገር በሚጠይቃቸው ጊዜ፣ የገለዓድ ሰዎች “አንተ ኤፍሬማዊ ነህ?” ብለው ይጠይቁታል፤ ያም ሰው፣ “አይደለሁም” ብሎ ከመለሰላቸው፣ 6እስቲ “ሺቦሌት” በል ይሉታል፤ ቃሉን በትክክል ማለት ሳይችል ቀርቶ “ሲቦሊት” ካለ፣ ይዘው እዚያው እመልካው ላይ ይገድሉታል። በዚያ ጊዜም አርባ ሁለት ሺሕ ኤፍሬማውያን ተገደሉ።
7ዮፍታሔ በእስራኤል ላይ ለስድስት ዓመት ፈራጅ12፥7 በዚህ እንዲሁም በቍጥር 8-14 ላይ ባለው ክፍል በትውፊት መሳፍንት ይባላል። ሆነ። ገለዓዳዊው ዮፍታሔ ሞተ፤ ከገለዓድም ከተሞች በአንዲቱ ተቀበረ።
ኢብጻን፣ ኤሎም፣ ዔብዶን
8ከዮፍታሔ ቀጥሎ የቤተ ልሔሙ ኢብጻን በእስራኤል ላይ ፈራጅ ሆነ። 9እርሱም ሠላሳ ወንዶችና ሠላሳ ሴቶች ልጆች ነበሩት። ሴቶች ልጆቹንም ከጐሣው ውጭ ለሆኑ ሰዎች ዳራቸው፤ ከጐሣው ውጭ የሆኑ ሠላሳ ልጃገረዶች አምጥቶ ከወንዶች ልጆቹ ጋር አጋባቸው። ኢብጻን በእስራኤል ላይ ሰባት ዓመት ፈራጅ ሆነ። 10ኢብጻን ሞተ፤ በቤተ ልሔምም ተቀበረ።
11ከእርሱም በኋላ ዛብሎናዊው ኤሎም በእስራኤል ላይ ዐሥር ዓመት ፈራጅ ሆነ። 12ከዚያም ኤሎም ሞተ፤ በዛብሎን ምድር በኢያሎን ተቀበረ።
13ከኤሎም ቀጥሎ የጲርዓቶናዊው የሂሌል ልጅ ዓብዶን በእስራኤል ፈራጅ ሆነ። 14እርሱም በሰባ አህዮች ላይ የሚቀመጡ አርባ ወንዶች ልጆችና ሠላሳ ወንዶች የልጅ ልጆች ነበሩት፤ በእስራኤልም ላይ ስምንት ዓመት ፈራጅ ሆነ። 15ከዚያም የሂሌል ልጅ ዓብዶን ሞተ፤ ኰረብታማ በሆነው በአማሌቃውያን አገር በኤፍሬም ምድር በጲርዓቶን ተቀበረ።
