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 sons of Israel go out, and the company is assembled as one man, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, and the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah, at Mizpeh.
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 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.
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 sons of Benjamin hear that the sons of Israel have gone up to Mizpeh. And the sons of Israel say, 'Speak ye, how hath this evil been?'
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 man, the Levite, husband of the woman who hath been murdered, answereth and saith, 'Into Gibeah (which [is] to Benjamin) I have come, I and my concubine, 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 rise against me do the masters of Gibeah — and they go round the house against me by night — me they thought to slay, and my concubine they have humbled, and she dieth;
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 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;
7 So now, all you Israeli people, speak, and tell me what you think should be done!”
lo, ye [are] all sons of Israel; give for you a word and counsel here.'
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 rise as one man, saying, 'None of us doth go to his tent, and none of us doth turn aside 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 we do to Gibeah — 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.”
and we have taken ten men of a hundred, of all the tribes of Israel, and a 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 hath done in Israel.'
11 And all the Israeli people agreed [that the people of Gibeah should be punished].
And every man of Israel is gathered unto the city, as one man — companions.
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 send men among all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, 'What [is] this evil which hath been 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.
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 hearken to the voice of their brethren, the sons of Israel;
14 The men of the tribe of Benjamin left their cities and gathered at Gibeah to fight the [other] Israelis.
and the sons of Benjamin are gathered out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle with the sons 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 sons of Benjamin number themselves on that day; out of the cities [are] twenty and six thousand men drawing sword, apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah, [who] numbered themselves, seven hundred chosen men;
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!
among all this people [are] seven hundred chosen men, bound of their right hand, each of these slinging with a stone at the hair, and he doth not err.
17 There were 400,000 men from the other Israeli tribes who had swords.
And the men of Israel numbered themselves, apart from Benjamin, four hundred thousand men, drawing sword, each of these a man 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 rise and go up to Beth-El, and ask of God, and the sons of Israel say, 'Who doth go up for us at the commencement to battle with the sons of Benjamin?' and Jehovah saith, 'Judah — at the commencement.'
19 The next morning, the Israeli men went and set up their tents near Gibeah.
And the sons of Israel rise in the morning, and encamp against Gibeah,
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 the men of Israel go out to battle with Benjamin, and the men of Israel set themselves in array with them, [for] battle against Gibeah,
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 come out from Gibeah, and destroy in Israel on that day two and twenty thousand men — to the earth.
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 people, the men of Israel, strengthen themselves, and add to set the battle in array in the place where they arranged themselves on the first day.
And the sons of Israel go up and weep before Jehovah till the evening, and ask of Jehovah, saying, 'Do I add to draw nigh to battle with the sons of Benjamin, my brother?' And Jehovah saith, 'Go up against him.'
24 The next day they again stood in their positions for fighting, just like they had done on the previous day.
And the sons of Israel draw near unto the sons 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 Benjamin cometh out to meet them from Gibeah on the second day, and destroy among the sons of Israel again eighteen thousand men — to the earth; all these are drawing 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 all the sons of Israel go up, even all the people, and come in to Beth-El, and weep, and sit there before Jehovah, and fast on that day till the evening, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
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.”
And the sons of Israel ask of Jehovah, — and there [is] the ark of the covenant of God in those days,
and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, is standing before it in those days — saying, 'Do I add again to go out to battle with the sons of Benjamin, my brother, or do I cease?' And Jehovah saith, 'Go up, for to-morrow I give him into thy hand.'
29 So [the next day, 10,000 of] the Israeli men (set up ambushes/went to hide) [in the fields] around Gibeah.
And Israel setteth liers in wait against Gibeah, round about,
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 sons of Israel go up against the sons of Benjamin, on the third day, and arrange themselves against Gibeah, as time by time.
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 sons of Benjamin come out to meet the people; they have been drawn away out of the city, and begin to smite [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.
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 sons of Benjamin say, 'They are smitten before us as at the beginning;' but the sons of Israel said, 'Let us flee, and draw them away out of the city, unto the highways.'
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 of Israel have risen from their place, and arrange themselves at Baal-Tamar, and the ambush of Israel is coming forth out of its place, out of the meadow of Gibeah.
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 they come in over against Gibeah — ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel — and the battle [is] grievous, and they have not known that the evil is striking against 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 Jehovah smiteth Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroy in Benjamin, on that day, twenty and five thousand, and a hundred men; all these [are] drawing 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 sons of Benjamin see that they have been smitten — and the men of Israel give place to Benjamin, for they have trusted unto the ambush which they had set against Gibeah,
and the ambush have hasted, and push against Gibeah, and the ambush draweth itself out, and smiteth the whole of the city by the mouth of the sword.
And there was the appointed sign to the men of Israel with the ambush — their causing to go up a great volume 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 men of Israel turn in battle, and Benjamin hath begun to smite the wounded among the men of Israel, about thirty men, for they said, 'Surely they are utterly smitten before us, as [at] 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 volume hath begun to go up from the city — a pillar of smoke — and Benjamin turneth behind, and lo, gone up hath the perfection of the city toward the heavens.
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 have turned, and the men of Benjamin are troubled, for they have seen that the evil hath stricken against 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 turn before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness, and the battle hath followed them; and those who [are] from the city are destroying them in their midst;
43 They surrounded [some of] the men of the tribe of Benjamin, and pursued the others to the area east of Gibeah.
they have compassed the Benjamites — they have pursued them — with ease they have trodden them down till over-against Gibeah, at the sun-rising.
44 They killed 18,000 strong soldiers of the tribe of Benjamin.
And there fall of Benjamin eighteen thousand men — the whole of these [are] men of valour;
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 they turn and flee toward the wilderness, unto the rock of Rimmon; and they glean of them in the highways five thousand men, and follow after them unto Gidom, and smite 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 those falling of Benjamin are twenty and five thousand men drawing sword, on that day — the whole of these [are] men of valour;
47 But 600 men of the tribe of Benjamin ran to Rimmon Rock in the desert. They stayed there for four months.
and there turn and flee into the wilderness, unto the rock of Rimmon six hundred men, and they dwell in the rock Rimmon four months.
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 men of Israel have turned back unto the sons of Benjamin, and smite them by the mouth of the sword out of the city, — men unto cattle, unto all that is found; also all the cities which are found they have sent into fire.
