Judges 20

1 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.

And all the children of Israel went out, and all the congregation was gathered as one man, from Dan even to Bersabee, and in the land of Galaad, to the Lord at Massepha.

2 The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords.

And all the tribes of Israel stood before the Lord in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.

3 (Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?”

And the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Massepha: and the children of Israel came and said, Tell us, where did this wickedness take place?

4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I and my concubine went to Gabaa of Benjamin to lodge.

5 And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died.

And the men of Gabaa rose up against me, and compassed the house by night against me; they wished to slay me, and they have humbled my concubine, and she is dead.

6 Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

And I laid hold of my concubine, and divided her in pieces, and sent [the parts] into every coast of the inheritance of the children of Israel; for they have wrought lewdness and abomination in Israel.

7 Behold, all you Israelites, give your advice and verdict here and now.”

Behold, all ye [are] children of Israel; and consider and take counsel here among yourselves.

8 Then all the people stood as one man and said, “Not one of us will return to his tent or to his house.

And all the people rose up as one man, saying, No one of us shall return to his tent, and no one of us shall return to his house.

9 Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will go against it as the lot dictates.

And now this [is] the thing which shall be done in Gabaa; we will go up against it by lot.

10 We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to supply provisions for the army when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for the atrocity they have committed in Israel.”

Moreover we will take ten men for a hundred for all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred for a thousand, and a thousand for ten thousand, to take provision, to cause them to come to Gabaa of Benjamin, to do to it according to all the abomination, which they wrought in Israel.

11 So all the men of Israel gathered as one man, united against the city.

And all the men of Israel were gathered to the city as one man.

12 And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you?

And the tribes of Israel sent men through the whole tribe of Benjamin, saying, What [is] this wickedness that has been wrought among you?

13 Hand over the wicked men of Gibeah so we can put them to death and purge Israel of this evil.” But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow Israelites.

Now then give up the men the sons of transgressors that are in Gabaa, and we will put them to death, and purge out wickedness from Israel: but the children of Benjamin consented not to hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel.

14 And from their cities they came together at Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites.

And the children of Benjamin were gathered from their cities to Gabaa, to go forth to fight with the children of Israel.

15 On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah.

And the children of Benjamin from their cities were numbered in that day, twenty-three thousand, [every] man drawing a sword, besides the inhabitants of Gabaa, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men of all the people, able to use both hands alike;

16 Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.

All these could sling with stones at a hair, and not miss.

17 The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.

And the men of Israel, exclusive of Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these [were] men of war.

18 The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.

And they arose and went up to Baethel, and enquired of God: and the children of Israel said, Who shall go up for us first to fight with the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Juda shall go up first as leader.

19 The next morning the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah.

And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gabaa.

20 And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took up their battle positions at Gibeah.

And they went out, all the men of Israel, to fight with Benjamin, and engaged with them at Gabaa.

21 And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.

And the sons of Benjamin went forth from Gabaa, and they destroyed in Israel on that day two and twenty thousand men down to the ground.

22 But the Israelite army took courage and again took their battle positions in the same place where they had arrayed themselves on the first day.

And the men of Israel strengthened themselves, and again engaged in battle in the place where they had engaged on the first day.

23 They went up and wept before the LORD until evening, inquiring of Him, “Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?” And the LORD answered, “Go up against them.”

And the children of Israel went up, and wept before the Lord till evening, and enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall we again draw nigh to battle with our brethren the children of Benjamin? and the Lord said, Go up against them.

24 On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites.

And the children of Israel advanced against the children of Benjamin on the second day.

25 That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

And the children of Benjamin went forth to meet them from Gabaa on the second day, and destroyed of the children of Israel yet further eighteen thousand men down to the ground: all these drew sword.

26 Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.

And the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Baethel; and they wept, and sat there before the Lord; and they fasted on that day until evening, and offered whole-burnt-offerings and perfect sacrifices, before the Lord,

27 And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there,

for the ark of the Lord God [was] there in those days,

28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

and Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron stood before it in those days; and the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall we yet again go forth to fight with our brethren the sons of Benjamin? and the Lord said, Go up, to-morrow I will give them into your hands.

29 So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah.

And the children of Israel set an ambush against Gabaa round about [it].

30 On the third day the Israelites went up against the Benjamites and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as they had done before.

And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and arrayed themselves against Gabaa as before.

31 The Benjamites came out against them and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

And the children of Benjamin went out to meet the people, and were all drawn out of the city, and began to smite and slay the people as before in the roads, whereof one goes up to Baethel, and one to Gabaa in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

32 “We are defeating them as before,” said the Benjamites. But the Israelites said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city onto the roads.”

And the children of Benjamin said, They fall before us as at the first: but the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them out from the city into the roads; and they did so.

33 So all the men of Israel got up from their places and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar, and the Israelites in ambush charged from their positions west of Gibeah.

And all the men rose up out of their places, and engaged in Baal Thamar; and the liers in wait of Israel advanced from their place from Maraagabe.

34 Then 10,000 select men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them.

And there came over against Gabaa ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel; and the fight [was] severe; and they knew not that evil was coming upon them.

35 The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.

And the Lord smote Benjamin before the children of Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin in that day a hundred and twenty-five thousand men: all these drew sword.

36 Then the Benjamites realized they had been defeated. Now the men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin because they were relying on the ambush they had set against Gibeah.

And the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten; and the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted in the ambuscade which they had prepared against Gabaa.

37 The men in ambush rushed suddenly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword.

And when they retreated, then the liers in wait rose up, and they moved toward Gabaa, and the whole ambush came forth, and they smote the city with the edge of the sword.

38 The men of Israel had arranged a signal with the men in ambush: When they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city,

And the children of Israel had a signal of battle with the liers in wait, that they should send up a signal of smoke from the city.

39 the men of Israel would turn in the battle. When the Benjamites had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Israel, they said, “They are defeated before us as in the first battle.”

And the children of Israel saw that the liers in wait had seized Gabaa, and they stood in line of battle; and Benjamin began to smite down wounded ones among the men of Israel about thirty men; for they said, Surely they fall again before us, as in the first battle.

40 But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, the Benjamites looked behind them and saw the whole city going up in smoke.

And the signal went up increasingly over the city as a pillar of smoke; and Benjamin looked behind him, and behold the destruction of the city went up to heaven.

41 Then the men of Israel turned back on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had come upon them.

And the men of Israel turned back, and the men of Benjamin hasted, because they saw that evil had come upon them.

42 So they fled before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and the men coming out of the cities struck them down there.

And they turned to the way of the wilderness from before the children of Israel, and fled: but the battle overtook them, and they from the cities destroyed them in the midst of them.

43 They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and easily overtook them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east.

And they cut down Benjamin, and pursued him from Nua closely till they came opposite Gabaa on the east.

44 And 18,000 Benjamites fell, all men of valor.

And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men: all these [were] men of might.

45 Then the Benjamites turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel cut down 5,000 men on the roads. And they overtook them at Gidom and struck down 2,000 more.

And the rest turned, and fled to the wilderness to the rock of Remmon; and the children of Israel picked off of them five thousand men; and the children of Israel went down after them as far as Gedan, and they smote of them two thousand men.

46 That day 25,000 Benjamite swordsmen fell, all men of valor.

And all that fell of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men that drew sword in that day: all these were men of might.

47 But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months.

And the rest turned, and fled to the wilderness to the rock of Remmon, even [six] hundred men; and they sojourned four months in the rock of Remmon.

48 And the men of Israel turned back against the other Benjamites and put to the sword all the cities, including the animals and everything else they found. And they burned down all the cities in their path.

And the children of Israel returned to the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword from the city of Methla, even to the cattle, and every thing that was found in all the cities: and they burnt with fire the cities they found.