45
Then Judas gathered together all the Israelites in Gilead, the small and the great, with their wives and children and goods, a very large company, to go to the land of Judah.
46
So they came to Ephron. This was a large and very strong town on the road, and they could not go around it to the right or to the left; they had to go through it.
47
But the people of the town shut them out and blocked up the gates with stones.
48
Judas sent them this friendly message, "Let us pass through your land to get to our land. No one will do you harm; we will simply pass by on foot." But they refused to open to him.
49
Then Judas ordered proclamation to be made to the army that all should encamp where they were.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.