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 children of Israel took up arms, and the people came together like one man, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and the land of Gilead, 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.
And the chiefs of the people, out of all the tribes of Israel, took their places in the meeting of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen 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?”
(Now the children of Benjamin had word that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the children of Israel said, Make clear how this evil thing took place.
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;
Then the Levite, the husband of the dead woman, said in answer, I came to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin, I and my servant-wife, for the purpose of stopping there for 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 the townsmen of Gibeah came together against me, going round the house on all sides by night; it was their purpose to put me to death, and my servant-wife was violently used by them and is dead.
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;
So I took her, cutting her into parts which I sent through all the country of the heritage of Israel: for they have done an act of shame in Israel.
7 behold, you [are] all sons of Israel; give for yourselves a word and counsel here.”
Here you all are, you children of Israel; give now your suggestions about what is to be done.
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 got up as one man and said, Not one of us will go to his tent or go back to his house:
9 and now, this [is] the thing which we do to Gibeah: [we go up] against it by lot!
But this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by the decision of the Lord;
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.”
And we will take ten men out of every hundred, through all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, a thousand out of every ten thousand, to get food for the people, so that they may give to Gibeah of Benjamin the right punishment for the act of shame they have done in Israel.
11 And every man of Israel is gathered to the city, as one man—companions.
So all the men of Israel were banded together against the town, united like one man.
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 through all the tribe of Benjamin saying, What is this evil which has been done 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;
Now give up those good-for-nothing persons in Gibeah so that we may put them to death, clearing away the evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not give ear to the voice of their brothers, the children of Israel.
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 the children of Benjamin came together from all their towns to Gibeah, to go to war with the children of Israel.
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;
And the children of Benjamin who came that day from the towns were twenty-six thousand men armed with swords, in addition to the people of Gibeah, numbering seven hundred of the best fighting-men,
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.
Who were left-handed, able to send a stone at a hair without error.
17 And the men of Israel numbered themselves, apart from Benjamin, four hundred thousand men, drawing sword, each of these a man of war.
And the men of Israel, other than Benjamin, were four hundred thousand in number, all armed with swords; they were all men of war.
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.”
And they got up and went up to Beth-el to get directions from God, and the children of Israel said, Who is to be the first to go up to the fight against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah is to go up first.
19 And the sons of Israel rise in the morning, and encamp against Gibeah,
So the children of Israel got up in the morning and put themselves in position against 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 war against Benjamin (and the men of Israel put their forces in fighting order against them 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.
Then the children of Benjamin came out from Gibeah, cutting down twenty-two thousand of the Israelites 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 people, the men of Israel, taking heart again, put their forces in order and took up the same position as 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.”
Now the children of Israel went up, weeping before the Lord till evening, requesting the Lord and saying, Am I to go forward again to the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him.
24 And the sons of Israel draw near to the sons of Benjamin on the second day,
So the children of Israel went forward against the children of Benjamin the second day.
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.
And the second day Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah, cutting down eighteen thousand men of the children of Israel, all swordsmen.
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 all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Beth-el, weeping and waiting there before the Lord, going without food all day till evening, and offering burned offerings and peace-offerings before 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 children of Israel made request to the Lord, (for the ark of the agreement of the Lord was there in those days,
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, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was in his place before it, ) and said, Am I still to go on with the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother, or am I to give it up? And the Lord said, Go on; for tomorrow I will give him into your hands.
29 And Israel sets ones lying in wait against Gibeah, all around,
So Israel put men secretly all round Gibeah to make a surprise attack on it.
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.
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in fighting order against Gibeah as 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.
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, moving away from the town; and as before, at their first attack, they put to death about thirty men of Israel on the highways, of which one goes up to Beth-el and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country.
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.”
And the children of Benjamin said, They are giving way before us as at first. But the children of Israel said, Let us go in flight and get them away from the town, into the highways.
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 and put themselves in fighting order at Baal-tamar: and those who had been waiting secretly to make a surprise attack came rushing out of their place on the west of Geba.
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.
And they came in front of Gibeah, ten thousand of the best men in all Israel, and the fighting became more violent; but the children of Benjamin were not conscious that evil was coming on 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.
Then the Lord sent sudden fear on Benjamin before Israel; and that day the children of Israel put to death twenty-five thousand, one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them swordsmen.
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,
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were overcome: and the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, putting their faith in the watchers who were to make the surprise attack on 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.
And the watchers, rushing on Gibeah and overrunning it, put all the town to the sword without mercy.
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.
Now the sign fixed between the men of Israel and those making the surprise attack was that when they made a pillar of smoke go up from the town,
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 were to make a turn about in the fight. And Benjamin had overcome and put to death about thirty of the men of Israel, and were saying, Certainly they are falling back before us as in the first fight.
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.
Then the sign went up out of the town in the pillar of smoke, and the Benjamites, turning back, saw all the town going up in smoke to heaven.
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—
And the men of Israel had made a turn about, and the men of Benjamin were overcome with fear, for they saw that evil had overtaken 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 turning their backs on the men of Israel, they went in the direction of the waste land; but the fight overtook them; and those who came out of the town were heading them off and putting them to the sword.
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.
And crushing Benjamin down, they went after them, driving them from Nohah as far as the east side of Gibeah.
44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fall—all these [were] men of valor;
Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin came to their death, all strong men of war.
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.
And turning, they went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land: and on the highways five thousand of them were cut off by the men of Israel, who, pushing on hard after them to Geba, put to death two thousand more.
46 And all those falling of Benjamin are twenty-five thousand men drawing sword, on that day—all these [were] men of valor;
So twenty-five thousand of the swordsmen of Benjamin came to their end that day, all strong men of war.
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 six hundred men, turning back, went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land, and were living on the rock of Rimmon for 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, turning again against the children of Benjamin, put to the sword without mercy all the towns and the cattle and everything there was, burning every town which came into their hands.
