A wise old man provides a pearl of wisdom to deal with dregs. “Our teeth are much harder than our tongue, but harder doesn’t mean stronger. After all the teeth lost, our tongue still.” The Ephraimites in the book of Judges were typical dregs. They were supposed to be strong enough to protect the entire clan of Israel, but they didn’t take part in resisting the invasion. When someone resisted bravely, they shamelessly demanded both respect and interests. When Gideon defeated the Midianites, the Ephraimites complained that Gideon had not invited them to fight, claimed to be despised, and quarreled with Gideon. Gideon was concerned about the unity of the clan. He kept as humble as he could and replied to the Ephraimites kindly. (Judges 8:1-3); Hundred years later, when Jephthah defeated the Ammonites, the Ephraimites repeated their old tricks. But this time, Jephthah was not easy to mess with. “My people resisted the invasion of Ammonites, I called you, but you did not come to save us.” He fought back the Ephraimites not only in lips but also in action. 42,00 Ephraimites were killed in the civil war (Judges 12:1-6). Dregs like the Ephraimites are everywhere. The responses of Jephthah and Gideon were “the hard” and “the soft,” respectively. Jephthah’s hardness only made him a judge for six years, but Gideon’s softness brought Israel forty years of peace.