Judges 20
1 All the Israelis, from Dan [city in the north] to Beersheba [city in the south], and even from [the] Gilead [region on the east side of the Jordan River, heard what had happened. So they] they gathered together at Mizpah, [at the place where they worshiped] Yahweh.
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 [eleven of] the tribes of Israel stood in front of the people who gathered there. There were 400,000 men with swords who were there.
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 The people of the tribe of Benjamin heard that the other Israelis had gone up to Mizpah, [but none of the men from their tribe went to the meeting there]. The Israelis who had come to Mizpah asked about the evil thing that had happened.
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 husband of the woman who had been killed replied, “My slave wife and I came to Gibeah [city], wanting to stay there that 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 That evening, the men of Gibeah came to attack me. They surrounded the house [where I was staying] and wanted to [have sex with me and then] kill me. They [raped and] abused my slave wife [all night], and she died.
And the men of Gabaa rose up against me, and compassed the house by night against me; they wished to kill me, and they have humbled my concubine, and she is dead.
6 I took her body home and cut it into pieces. Then I sent one piece to each area of Israel, [because I wanted you all to know about] this wicked and disgraceful/shameful thing [that] has been done here 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 So now, all you Israeli people, speak, and tell me what you think should be done!”
Behold, all you [are] children of Israel; and consider and take counsel here among yourselves.
8 All the people stood up, and in unison said, “None of us will go home! Not one of us will return 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 This is what we must do to [the people of] Gibeah. First, we will (cast lots/throw marked stones) [to determine which group should attack them].
And now this [is] the thing which shall be done in Gabaa; we will go up against it by lot.
10 We will choose (one tenth/one from every ten) of the men from all the Israeli tribes. Those men will go and find food for the men who will go to attack the people of Gibeah. Then the other men will go to Gibeah to (pay the people back/punish them) for this terrible thing that they have done [here] 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 And all the Israeli people agreed [that the people of Gibeah should be punished].
And all the men of Israel were gathered to the city as one man.
12 Then the Israeli men sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin. They demanded, “Do you realize that some of your men have done a very evil thing?
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 Bring those wicked men to us, in order that we can execute them. [By doing that], we will be doing what should be done because of this evil thing that has happened in Israel.” But the [people of the] tribe of Benjamin did not pay attention to their fellow Israelis.
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 listen to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel.
14 The men of the tribe of Benjamin left their cities and gathered at Gibeah to fight the [other] Israelis.
And the children of Benjamin were gathered from their cities to Gabaa, to go forth to fight with the children of Israel.
15 In that one day the men of the tribe of Benjamin recruited 26,000 soldiers who knew how to fight using swords. They also chose/recruited 700 men from 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 From all those soldiers there were 700 men who were left-handed, and each of them could sling a stone at [a target that was very small and as narrow as] a hair, and the stone always hit the target!
All these could sling with stones at a hair, and not miss.
17 There were 400,000 men from the other Israeli tribes who had swords.
And the men of Israel, exclusive of Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these [were] men of war.
18 Those other Israelis went up to Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should be the first to attack the men from the tribe of Benjamin?” Yahweh answered, “[The men from the tribe of] Judah should go first.”
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 Israeli men went and set up their tents near Gibeah.
And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gabaa.
20 Then they went to fight against [the men from the tribe of] Benjamin, and stood in their positions for fighting a battle, [facing Gibeah].
And they went out, all the men of Israel, to fight with Benjamin, and engaged with them at Gabaa.
21 The men of the tribe of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and fought against them, and they killed 22,000 Israeli men on 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 [Late that afternoon], the [remaining] Israeli men went to the place of worship and cried until the sun set. Then they asked Yahweh, “Should we attack the men of the tribe of Benjamin again, even though they are our fellow Israelis?” Yahweh replied, “Yes, attack them again.” So the Israeli men encouraged each other.
And the men of Israel strengthened themselves, and again engaged in battle in the place where they had engaged on the first day.
And the children of Israel went up, and wept before the Lord till evening, and enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall we again draw near to battle with our brethren the children of Benjamin? and the Lord said, Go up against them.
24 The next day they again stood in their positions for fighting, just like they had done on the previous day.
And the children of Israel advanced against the children of Benjamin on the second day.
25 The men of the tribe of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and attacked the Israelis, and killed 18,000 more of their men.
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 [In the afternoon], all the people of Israel [who had not been killed] again went to Bethel. There they sat down and cried to Yahweh, and they (fasted/abstained from eating food) until it was evening. They brought some offerings which they burned completely [on the altar], and they also brought some offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh.
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 At that time, the Sacred Chest that contained the stone tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments was there at Bethel. A priest named Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, often stood in front of that chest [and talked with Yahweh]. While he stood there on that day, he asked Yahweh, “Shall we go again to fight against our fellow Israelis from the tribe of Benjamin, or shall we stop fighting against them?” Yahweh answered, “Go again tomorrow, because tomorrow I will enable you to defeat them.”
for the ark of the Lord God [was] there in those days,
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 [the next day, 10,000 of] the Israeli men (set up ambushes/went to hide) [in the fields] around Gibeah.
And the children of Israel set an ambush against Gabaa round about [it].
30 The [other] Israeli men went and stood in their positions for fighting a battle just like they had done on the previous days.
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and arrayed themselves against Gabaa as before.
31 When the men of the tribe of Benjamin came out of the city to fight against them, the Israeli men retreated away from the city, and the men of the tribe of Benjamin pursued them. The men of the tribe of Benjamin killed many Israelis, like they had done before. They killed about 30 Israelis. They killed some in the fields, and they killed some on the road that went to Bethel and on the road that went to Gibeah.
And the children of Benjamin went out to meet the people, and were all drawn out of the city, and began to strike and kill 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 The men of the tribe of Benjamin said, “We are defeating them like we did before!” But then Israeli men did what they had planned. The main group of Israeli men retreated a short distance from the city, to [trick] the men of Gibeah and cause them to pursue the Israeli men along the roads outside the city.
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 The main group of Israeli men left their positions and retreated, and then they stood in their battle positions again at a place named Baal-Tamar.
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 [while the men of Gibeah were running out of the city toward them], the other 10,000 Israelis came out from the places where they had been hiding, west of Gibeah. They were men who had come from all parts of Israel. There was a very big battle. But the men of the tribe of Benjamin did not know that they were about to suffer a disastrous defeat.
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 Yahweh enabled the Israeli men to defeat the men of the tribe of Benjamin. They killed 25,000 of them, even though they all were using swords. [This is what happened]:
And the Lord struck 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 The main group of Israeli men arranged with the men who would be hiding that they should send up a smoke signal to enable the main group of soldiers to know when they should attack. Then the main group of Israeli men retreated for a short distance, because they knew that the other Israeli men who had been hiding on the other side of Gibeah would attack the people of the tribe of Benjamin by surprise. So [after the main group of Israeli men retreated a little distance], the men who had been hiding rushed out and ran into Gibeah and used their swords to kill everyone in the city. [Then they started to burn the buildings].
And the children of Benjamin saw that they were struck; and the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted in the ambuscade which they had prepared against Gabaa.
And when they retreated, then the liers in wait rose up, and they moved toward Gabaa, and the whole ambush came forth, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword.
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 By that time, the men of the tribe of Benjamin said, “We are winning the battle, as we did before!”
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 strike 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 then smoke [from the burning buildings] began to rise up from the city. The men of the tribe of Benjamin turned around and saw that the whole city was burning.
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 main group of Israeli men [also saw the smoke, and they knew that the smoke signaled that they should] turn around and begin to attack. The men of the tribe of Benjamin were very afraid, because they realized that they were about to suffer a disastrous defeat.
And the men of Israel turned back, and the men of Benjamin hasted, because they saw that evil had come upon them.
42 So the men of the tribe of Benjamin tried to run away toward the desert to escape from the Israeli men, but they were not able to escape, because the Israeli men who had burned the two cities came out of those cities and killed many of them.
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 [some of] the men of the tribe of Benjamin, and pursued the others to the area east of Gibeah.
And they cut down Benjamin, and pursued him from Nua closely till they came opposite Gabaa on the east.
44 They killed 18,000 strong soldiers of the tribe of Benjamin.
And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men: all these [were] men of might.
45 Then the rest of the men of the tribe of Benjamin realized that they had been defeated. They ran toward the desert to Rimmon Rock, but the Israeli men killed 5,000 more men of the tribe of Benjamin along the roads. They pursued the rest of them to Gidom, and they killed 2,000 more men of the tribe of Benjamin there.
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 struck of them two thousand men.
46 Altogether, there were 25,000 men of the tribe of Benjamin who were killed, all of whom had swords.
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 of the tribe of Benjamin ran to Rimmon Rock in the desert. They stayed there for 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 Then the Israeli men went back to the land belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, and killed the people in every city. They also killed all the animals, and destroyed everything else that they found there. And they burned all the cities that they came to.
And the children of Israel returned to the children of Benjamin, and struck 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.
