Judges 20

1 And so all the sons of Israel went out like one man, from Dan to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, and they gathered together, before the Lord, at Mizpah.

Then all the people of Israel came out as one man, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead also, and they assembled together before Yahweh at Mizpah.

2 And all the chiefs of the people, and every tribe of Israel, convened as an assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers for battle.

The leaders of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, took their places in the assembly of the people of God—400,000 men on foot, who were ready to fight with the sword.

3 (But it was not hidden from the sons of Benjamin that the sons of Israel had ascended to Mizpah.) And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was killed, being questioned as to how so great a crime had been perpetrated,

Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. The people of Israel said, “Tell us how this wicked thing happened.”

4 responded: “I went to Gibeah of Benjamin, with my wife, and I diverted to that place.

The Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, answered, “I came to Gibeah in the territory that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

5 And behold, the men of that city, at night, surrounded the house in which I was staying, intending to kill me. And they abused my wife with such an incredible fury of lust that in the end she died.

During the night, the leaders of Gibeah attacked me, surrounding the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died.

6 And taking her up, I cut her into pieces, and I sent the parts into all the borders of your possession. For never before was such a nefarious crime, and so great a sin, committed in Israel.

I took my concubine and cut her body into pieces, and sent them into each region of Israel's inheritance, because they have committed such wickedness and outrage in Israel.

7 You are all present here, O sons of Israel. Discern what you ought to do.”

Now, all you Israelites, give your advice and counsel here.”

8 And all the people, standing, responded as if with the word of one man: “We shall not return to our own tents, nor shall anyone enter into his own house.

All the people arose together as one man, and they said, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house!

9 But this we shall do in common against Gibeah:

But now this is what we must do to Gibeah: We will attack it as the lot directs us.

10 We shall select ten men out of one hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred out of one thousand, and one thousand out of ten thousand, so that they may transport supplies for the army, and so that we will be able to fight against Gibeah of Benjamin, and to repay it for its crime as it deserves.”

We will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of a thousand, and one thousand of ten thousand, to get provisions for these people, so that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may punish them for the wickedness they committed in Israel.”

11 And all of Israel convened against the city, like one man, with one mind and one counsel.

So all the soldiers of Israel assembled against the city, as one man.

12 And they sent messengers to the entire tribe of Benjamin, who said: “Why has so great a wickedness been found among you?

The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that was done among you?

13 Deliver the men of Gibeah, who have perpetrated this deplorable act, so that they may die, and so that the evil may be taken away from Israel.” And they were not willing to listen to the command of their brothers, the sons of Israel.

Therefore, give us those wicked men of Gibeah, so we may put them to death, and so we will completely remove this evil from Israel.” But the Benjamites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel.

14 Instead, out of all the cities that were their lot, they convened at Gibeah, so that they might bring them assistance, and so that they might contend against the entire people of Israel.

Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to get ready to fight against the people of Israel.

15 And there were found from Benjamin twenty-five thousand who drew the sword, aside from the inhabitants of Gibeah,

The people of Benjamin brought together from their cities to fight on that day twenty-six thousand soldiers who were trained to fight with the sword. In addition, there were seven hundred of their chosen men from the inhabitants of Gibeah.

16 who were seven hundred very strong men, fighting with the left hand as well as with the right hand, and casting stones from a sling so accurately that they were able to strike even a hair, and the path of the stone would by no means miss to either side.

Among all these soldiers were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed. Each of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

17 Then too, among the men of Israel apart from the sons of Benjamin, there were found four hundred thousand who drew the sword and who were prepared for battle.

The people of Israel, not counting the number from Benjamin, numbered 400,000 men, who were trained to fight with the sword. All of these were men of war.

18 And they rose up and went to the house of God, that is, to Shiloh. And they consulted God, and they said, “Who shall be, in our army, the first to contend against the sons of Benjamin?” And the Lord responded to them, “Let Judah be your leader.”

The people of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked for advice from God. They asked, “Who first will attack the people of Benjamin for us?” Yahweh said, “Judah will attack first.”

19 And immediately the sons of Israel, rising up in the morning, made camp near Gibeah.

The people of Israel got up in the morning and they moved their camp near Gibeah.

20 And setting out from there to fight against Benjamin, they began to assault the city.

The people of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin. They set up their battle positions against them at Gibeah.

21 And the sons of Benjamin, departing from Gibeah, slew twenty-two thousand men from the sons of Israel, on that day.

The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and they killed twenty-two thousand men of the army of Israel on that day.

22 Again the sons of Israel, trusting in both strength and number, set their troops in order, in the same place where they had contended before.

But the people of Israel strengthened themselves and they formed the battle line in the same place where they had taken positions on the first day.

23 But first they also went up and wept before the Lord, even until night. And they consulted him and said, “Should I continue to go forth, so as to contend against the sons of Benjamin, my brothers, or not?” And he responded to them, “Ascend against them, and undertake the struggle.”

Then the people of Israel went up and they wept before Yahweh until evening, and they sought direction from Yahweh. They said, “Should we go again to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?” Yahweh said, “Attack them!”

24 And when the sons of Israel had continued to do battle against the sons of Benjamin on the next day,

So the people of Israel went against the soldiers of Benjamin the second day.

25 the sons of Benjamin burst forth from the gates of Gibeah. And meeting them, they made such a frenzied slaughter against them that they struck down eighteen thousand men who drew the sword.

On the second day, Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah and they killed eighteen thousand men from the people of Israel. All were men who trained to fight with the sword.

26 As a result, all the sons of Israel went to the house of God, and sitting down, they wept before the Lord. And they fasted that day until evening, and they offered to him holocausts and victims of peace offerings.

Then all the soldiers of Israel and all the people went up to Bethel and wept, and there they sat before Yahweh and they fasted that day until the evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.

27 And they inquired about their state. At that time, the ark of the covenant of the Lord was in that place.

The people of Israel asked Yahweh—for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was the first ruler of the house. And so, they consulted the Lord, and they said, “Should we continue to go forth in battle against the sons of Benjamin, our brothers, or should we cease?” And the Lord said to them: “Ascend. For tomorrow, I will deliver them into your hands.”

and Phinehas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron, was serving before the ark in those days—”Should we go out to battle once more against the people of Benjamin, our brothers, or stop?” Yahweh said, “Attack, for tomorrow I will help you defeat them.”

29 And the sons of Israel stationed ambushes around the city of Gibeah.

So Israel set men in secret places around Gibeah.

30 And they brought out their army against Benjamin a third time, just as they had done on the first and second times.

The people of Israel fought against the people of Benjamin for the third day, and they formed their battle lines against Gibeah as they had done before.

31 But the sons of Benjamin again burst forth boldly from the city. And since their enemies were fleeing, they pursued them a long way, so that they might wound or kill some of them, just as they had done on the first and second days. And they turned their backs along two paths, one bringing them toward Bethel, and the other toward Gibeah. And they struck down about thirty men.

The people of Benjamin went and fought against the people, and they were drawn away from the city. They began to kill some of the people. There were about thirty men of Israel who died in the fields and on the roads. One of the roads went up to Bethel, and the other went to Gibeah.

32 For they thought that they were falling back as they had done before. But instead, skillfully feigning flight, they undertook a plan to draw them away from the city, and by seeming to flee, to lead them along the above stated paths.

Then the people of Benjamin said, “They are defeated and they are running away from us, just as at first.” But the soldiers of Israel said, “Let us run back and draw them away from the city to the roads.”

33 And so all the sons of Israel, rising up from their positions, set their troops in order, in the place which is called Baaltamar. Likewise, the ambushes that encircled the city began, little by little, to reveal themselves,

All the people of Israel rose up out of their places and formed themselves into lines for battle at Baal Tamar. Then the soldiers of Israel who had been hiding in secret places ran out from their places from Maareh Gibeah.

34 and to advance upon the western part of the city. Moreover, another ten thousand men from all of Israel were provoking a conflict with the inhabitants of the city. And the war grew heavy against the sons of Benjamin. And they did not realize that, on all sides of them, death was imminent.

There came out against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the fighting was fierce, but the Benjamites did not know that disaster was close to them.

35 And the Lord struck them down in the sight of the sons of Israel, and they put to death, on that day, twenty-five thousand of them, along with one hundred men, all warriors and those who drew the sword.

Yahweh defeated Benjamin before Israel. On that day, the soldiers of Israel killed 25,100 men of Benjamin. All these who died were those who had been trained to fight with the sword.

36 But the sons of Benjamin, when they had seen themselves to be the weaker, began to flee. And the sons of Israel discerning this, gave them room to flee, so that they might arrive at the ambushes that were prepared, which they had positioned near the city.

So the soldiers of Benjamin saw they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to Benjamin, because they were counting on the men they had placed in hidden positions outside Gibeah.

37 And after they had risen up suddenly from hiding, and those of Benjamin had turned their backs to those who cut them down, they entered the city, and they struck it with the edge of the sword.

Then the men who were hiding got up and hurried and they rushed into Gibeah, and they struck all the city with the edge of the sword.

38 Now the sons of Israel had given a sign to those whom they had stationed in ambushes, so that, after they had seized the city, they would light a fire, and by the smoke ascending on high, they would show that the city was captured.

The arranged signal between the soldiers of Israel and the men hiding in secret would be that a great cloud of smoke would rise up out of the city.

39 And then, the sons of Israel discerned this sign during the battle (for the sons of Benjamin had thought that they fled, and they pursued them forcefully, cutting down thirty men from their army).

When the signal was sent the soldiers of Israel would turn from the battle. Now Benjamin began to attack and they killed about thirty men of Israel, and they said, “It is sure that they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.”

40 And they saw something like a pillar of smoke ascending from the city. Likewise, Benjamin, looking back, discerned that the city was captured, for the flames were being carried on high.

But when a pillar of smoke began to rise up out of the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the smoke rising to the sky from the whole city.

41 And those who before had pretended to flee, turning their faces, withstood them more strongly. And when the sons of Benjamin had seen this, they turned their backs in flight,

Then the people of Israel turned against them. The men of Benjamin were terrified, for they saw that disaster had come on them.

42 and they began to go toward the way of the desert, with the adversary pursuing them to that place also. Moreover, those who had set fire to the city also met them.

So they ran away from the people of Israel, escaping on the way to the wilderness. But the fighting overtook them. The soldiers of Israel came out of the cities and killed them where they stood.

43 And so it happened that they were cut down on both sides by the enemies, nor was there any respite for the dying. They were killed and struck down on the eastern side of the city of Gibeah.

They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and trampled them down at Nohah, all the way to the east side of Gibeah.

44 Now those who were put to death in the same place were eighteen thousand men, all very robust fighters.

From the tribe of Benjamin, eighteen thousand people died, all of them men who were distinguished in battle.

45 And when those who remained of Benjamin had seen this, they fled into the wilderness. And they were traveling toward the rock which is called Rimmon. In that flight also, among those who were scattering in different directions, they slew five thousand men. And though they scattered all the more, they continued to pursue them, and then they put to death another two thousand.

They turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. The Israelites killed five thousand more of them along the roads. They kept going after them, following them closely all the way to Gidom, and there they killed two thousand more.

46 And so it happened that all of those who were slain from Benjamin, in various places, were twenty-five thousand fighters, very willing to go to war.

All the soldiers of Benjamin who fell that day were twenty-five thousand—men who were trained to fight with the sword; all of them were distinguished in battle.

47 And so there remained from the entire number of Benjamin six hundred men who were able to escape and to flee into the wilderness. And they settled at the rock of Rimmon, for four months.

But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness, toward the rock of Rimmon. For four months they stayed at the rock of Rimmon.

48 But the sons of Israel, returning, had struck with the sword all that remained in the city, from men even to cattle. And all the cities and villages of Benjamin were consumed with devouring flames.

The soldiers of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, including the animals and everything that they found. They also burned down every town in their path.