Judges 20

1 And all the sons of Israel go out, and the congregation is assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba, and the land of Gilead, to YHWH, at Mizpeh.

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.

2 And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, station themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen drawing sword.

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.

3 And the sons of Benjamin hear that the sons of Israel have gone up to Mizpeh. And the sons of Israel say, “Speak! How has this evil been?”

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

4 And the man, the Levite, husband of the woman who has been murdered, answers and says, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which [is] of Benjamin, to lodge;

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

5 and the masters of Gibeah rise against me—and they go around the house against me by night—they thought to slay me, and they have humbled my concubine, and she dies;

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.

6 and I lay hold on my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and send her into all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have done wickedness and folly in Israel;

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.

7 behold, you [are] all sons of Israel; give for yourselves a word and counsel here.”

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

8 And all the people rise as one man, saying, “None of us goes to his tent, and none of us turns aside to his house;

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

9 and now, this [is] the thing which we do to Gibeah: [we go up] against it by lot!

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

10 And we have taken ten men of one hundred, of all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of a myriad, to receive provision for the people, to do, at their coming to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly which it has done in Israel.”

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.”

11 And every man of Israel is gathered to the city, as one man—companions.

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

12 And the tribes of Israel send men among all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, “What [is] this evil which has been among you?

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

13 And now, give up the men—sons of worthlessness—which [are] in Gibeah, and we put them to death, and we put away evil from Israel.” And [the sons of] Benjamin have not been willing to listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel;

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.

14 and the sons of Benjamin are gathered out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle with the sons of Israel.

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

15 And the sons of Benjamin number themselves on that day; out of the cities [are] twenty-six thousand men drawing sword, apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah, [who] numbered themselves, seven hundred chosen men;

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

16 among all this people [are] seven hundred chosen men, their right hand bound, each of these slinging with a stone at the hair, and he does not err.

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

17 And the men of Israel numbered themselves, apart from Benjamin, four hundred thousand men, drawing sword, each of these a man of war.

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

18 And they rise and go up to Beth-El, and ask of God, and the sons of Israel say, “Who goes up for us at the commencement to battle with the sons of Benjamin?” And YHWH says, “Judah—at the commencement.”

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.

19 And the sons of Israel rise in the morning, and encamp against Gibeah,

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

20 and the men of Israel go out to battle with Benjamin, and the men of Israel set themselves in array [for] battle with them, against Gibeah,

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

21 and the sons of Benjamin come out from Gibeah, and destroy twenty-two thousand men in Israel on that day—to the earth.

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

22 And the people, the men of Israel, strengthen themselves, and add to set in array [for] battle in the place where they arranged themselves on the first day.

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.

23 And the sons of Israel go up and weep before YHWH until the evening, and ask of YHWH, saying, “Do I add to draw near to battle with the sons of my brother Benjamin?” And YHWH says, “Go up against him.”

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.”

24 And the sons of Israel draw near to the sons of Benjamin on the second day,

On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites.

25 and Benjamin comes out to meet them from Gibeah on the second day, and destroy eighteen thousand men among the sons of Israel again—to the earth; all these are drawing sword.

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

26 And all the sons of Israel go up, even all the people, and come to Beth-El, and weep, and sit there before YHWH, and fast on that day until the evening, and cause burnt-offerings and peace-offerings to ascend before YHWH.

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.

27 And the sons of Israel ask of YHWH—and the Ark of the Covenant of God [is] there in those days,

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

28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, is standing before it in those days, saying, “Do I add to go out to battle again with the sons of my brother Benjamin, or do I cease?” And YHWH says, “Go up, for tomorrow I give him into your hand.”

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.”

29 And Israel sets ones lying in wait against Gibeah, all around,

So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah.

30 and the sons of Israel go up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day, and arrange themselves against Gibeah, as time by time.

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

31 And the sons of Benjamin come out to meet the people; they have been drawn away out of the city, and begin to strike [some] of the people—wounded as time by time—in the highways (of which one is going up to Beth-El, and the other to Gibeah in the field), [are] about thirty men of Israel.

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.

32 And the sons of Benjamin say, “They are struck before us as at the beginning”; but the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee, and draw them away out of the city, to the highways.”

“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.”

33 And all the men of Israel have risen from their place, and arrange themselves at Ba‘al-Tamar, and the ambush of Israel is coming forth out of its place, out of the meadow of Gibeah.

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.

34 And they come in from the front against Gibeah—ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel—and the battle [is] grievous, and they have not known that the calamity is reaching toward them.

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.

35 And YHWH strikes Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroy in Benjamin, on that day, twenty-five thousand and one hundred men; all these [are] drawing sword.

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

36 And the sons of Benjamin see that they have been struck—and the men of Israel give place to Benjamin, for they have trusted in the ambush which they had set against Gibeah,

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.

37 and the ambush has hurried, and pushes against Gibeah, and the ambush draws itself out, and strikes the whole of the city by the mouth of the sword.

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

38 And the appointed sign of the men of Israel with the ambush was their causing a great volume of smoke to go up from the city.

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,

39 And the men of Israel turn in battle, and Benjamin has begun to strike the wounded among the men of Israel, about thirty men, for they said, “Surely they are utterly struck before us, as [at] the first battle”;

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.”

40 but the volume has begun to go up from the city—a pillar of smoke—and Benjamin turns behind, and behold, the perfection of the city has gone up toward the heavens.

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.

41 And the men of Israel have turned, and the men of Benjamin are troubled, for they have seen that the calamity has struck against them—

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.

42 and they turn before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, and the battle has followed them; and those who [are] from the cities are destroying them in their midst;

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.

43 they have surrounded the Benjamites—they have pursued them—they have trodden them down with ease as far as the front of Gibeah, at the sun-rising.

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

44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fall—all these [were] men of valor;

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

45 and they turn and flee toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon; and they glean five thousand of their men in the highways, and follow after them to Gidom, and strike two thousand [more] of their men.

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.

46 And all those falling of Benjamin are twenty-five thousand men drawing sword, on that day—all these [were] men of valor;

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

47 but six hundred men turn and flee into the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, and they dwell in the rock of Rimmon four months.

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

48 And the men of Israel have turned back to the sons of Benjamin, and strike them by the mouth of the sword out of the city—men even to livestock, even to all that is found; they have also sent all the cities which are found into the fire.

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.