21 Then (A)the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites.

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21 The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites(A) on the battlefield that day.

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25 And (A)Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the sword.

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25 This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites,(A) all of them armed with swords.

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“O Israel, you have sinned from the days of (A)Gibeah;
There they stood.
The (B)battle in Gibeah against the children of [a]iniquity
Did not [b]overtake them.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:9 So with many Heb. mss., LXX, Vg.; MT unruliness
  2. Hosea 10:9 Or overcome

“Since the days of Gibeah,(A) you have sinned,(B) Israel,
    and there you have remained.[a]
Will not war again overtake
    the evildoers in Gibeah?

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 10:9 Or there a stand was taken

Jeremiah’s Question

12 Righteous (A)are You, O Lord, when I plead with You;
Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.
(B)Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?

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Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You are always righteous,(A) Lord,
    when I bring a case(B) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:(C)
    Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(D)
    Why do all the faithless live at ease?

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Death Comes to All

For I [a]considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: (A)that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. (B)All things come alike to all:

One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the [b]good, the clean, and the unclean;
To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
As is the good, so is the sinner;
He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:1 Lit. put
  2. Ecclesiastes 9:2 LXX, Syr., Vg. good and bad,

A Common Destiny for All

So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.(A) All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

As it is with the good,
    so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
    so with those who are afraid to take them.(B)

This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.(C) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,(D) and afterward they join the dead.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.

19 Your way was in the sea,
Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known.

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19 Your path(A) led through the sea,(B)
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

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18 Surely (A)You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.

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18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;(A)
    you cast them down to ruin.(B)
19 How suddenly(C) are they destroyed,
    completely swept away(D) by terrors!

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16 (A)No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

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16 No king is saved by the size of his army;(A)
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.

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10 And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your (A)male and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the Lord your God?

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10 And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves.(A) But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God?

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Cleanliness of the Campsite

“When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing.

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Uncleanness in the Camp

When you are encamped against your enemies, keep away from everything impure.(A)

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27 “Benjamin is a (A)ravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
(B)And at night he shall divide the spoil.”

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27 “Benjamin(A) is a ravenous wolf;(B)
    in the morning he devours the prey,(C)
    in the evening he divides the plunder.”(D)

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