Judges 20:18-20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 They went up to Bethel and consulted God. When the Israelites asked, “Who shall go up first for us to do battle with the Benjaminites?” the Lord said: Judah first.[a](A) 19 [b]The Israelites rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
War with Benjamin. 20 The men of Israel marched out to do battle with Benjamin and drew up in battle array against them at Gibeah.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 20:18 Judah first: as in 1:2, where the enemy is the Canaanites. This time the attack is against fellow Israelites, an indication of how far things have deteriorated in these days when as yet “there was no king in Israel”; see note on 17:6.
- 20:19–25 The Israelites are defeated twice by the Benjaminites.
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