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The War Between Israel and Benjamin

20 So all the Israelites joined together. They came to stand before the Lord in the city of Mizpah. They came from as far away as the cities of Dan and Beersheba.[a] Even the Israelites from the land of Gilead were there. The leaders of all the tribes of Israel were there. They took their places in the meeting of the people of God. There were 400,000 soldiers with swords. (The people of Benjamin heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said to the Levite, “Tell us how this evil thing happened.”

So the husband of the murdered woman answered: “My slave woman and I came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. During the night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house and wanted to kill me. They raped my slave woman. And she died! So I took her and cut her into parts. Then I sent one part to each area of Israel’s land. I did it because the people of Benjamin have done this wicked and terrible thing in Israel. Now, all you men of Israel, speak up. Tell what you have decided we should do.”

Then all the people stood up at the same time. They said, “None of us will go home. Not one of us will go back to his house! Now this is what we will do to Gibeah. We will throw lots so that God can show us what to do. 10 We will choose 10 men from each 100 men. They will be from all the tribes of Israel. And we will choose 100 men from each 1,000. We will choose 1,000 men from each 10,000. These men will find supplies for the army. Then the army will go to the city of Gibeah of Benjamin. They will repay those people for the terrible thing they have done in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel gathered against the city. They all agreed about what they were doing.

12 The tribes of Israel sent men to all the family groups of Benjamin with a message. They said, “What is this evil thing some of your men have done? 13 Give up the evil men in Gibeah so that we can put them to death. We must remove this evil from Israel.”

But the Benjaminites would not listen to their relatives, the people of Israel. 14 The Benjaminites left their own cities and met at Gibeah. They went to fight against the Israelites. 15 In only one day the Benjaminites got 26,000 soldiers together. These soldiers were trained with swords. They also had 700 chosen men from Gibeah. 16 Seven hundred of these trained soldiers were left-handed. Each of these left-handed soldiers could sling a stone at a hair and not miss!

17 The Israelites, except for the Benjaminites, gathered 400,000 fighting men. These 400,000 men used swords and were trained soldiers.

18 The Israelites went up to the city of Bethel. They asked God, “Which tribe shall be first to attack the Benjaminites?”

The Lord answered, “Judah shall go first.”

19 The next morning the Israelites got up. They made a camp near Gibeah. 20 Then the men of Israel went out to fight the Benjaminites. The Israelites got into battle position at Gibeah. 21 Then the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah. They killed 22,000 Israelites during the battle that day. 22-23 The Israelites went before the Lord. They cried until evening. They asked the Lord, “Shall we go to fight our relatives, the Benjaminites, again?”

The Lord answered, “Go up and fight them.” The men of Israel encouraged each other. So they took the same battle positions they had taken the first day.

24 The Israelites brought their battle lines against the Benjaminites the second day. 25 The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah to attack the Israelites. This time, the Benjaminites killed 18,000 Israelites. All of these Israelites had been trained with swords.

26 Then the Israelites went up to Bethel. There they sat down and cried to the Lord. They went without food all day until evening. They also brought burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. 27 The Israelites asked the Lord a question. (In those days the Ark of the Covenant with God was there at Bethel. 28 A priest named Phinehas served before the Ark of the Covenant. He was the son of Eleazar, who was the son of Aaron.) The people of Israel asked, “Shall we again go to fight against our relatives the Benjaminites? Or shall we stop fighting?”

The Lord answered, “Go, because tomorrow I will help you defeat them.”

29 Then the Israelites hid some men all around Gibeah. 30 They went to fight against the Benjaminites at Gibeah on the third day. They got into position for battle, as they had done before. 31 Then the Benjaminites came out of the city to fight them. The Israelites backed up and led the Benjaminites away from the city. The Benjaminites began to kill some of the Israelites as they had done before. About 30 men from Israel were killed. Some of them were killed in the fields and some on the roads. One road led to Bethel. Another road led to Gibeah.

32 The Benjaminites said, “We are winning as before!”

But the Israelites said, “Let’s run. Let’s trick them into going farther away from their city and onto the roads.”

33 All the men of Israel moved from their places. They got into battle positions at a place named Baal Tamar. Then the Israelites ran out from their hiding places west of Gibeah. 34 Ten thousand of the best trained soldiers from the army of Israel attacked Gibeah. The battle was very hard. The Benjaminites did not know disaster was about to come to them. 35 The Lord used the Israelites to defeat the Benjaminites. On that day the Israelites killed 25,100 Benjaminites. All these men were armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated.

The men of Israel had moved back. They backed up because they were depending on the surprise attack. They had set it up near Gibeah. 37 The men in hiding rushed into Gibeah. They spread out and killed everyone in the city with their swords. 38 Now the men of Israel had made a plan with the men in hiding. The men in the surprise attack were to send up a signal. It was to be a big cloud of smoke from the city. 39 So the army of Israel turned around in the battle.

The Benjaminites had killed about 30 Israelites. They were saying, “We are winning, as in the first battle!” 40 But then the big cloud of smoke began to rise from the city. The Benjaminites turned around and saw it. The whole city was full of smoke that went up into the sky. 41 Then the Israelites turned and began to fight. The Benjaminites were terrified. Now they knew that disaster was coming to them. 42 So the Benjaminites ran away from the Israelites. They ran toward the desert. But they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the cities killed them. 43 They surrounded the Benjaminites and chased them. They caught them in the area east of Gibeah. 44 So 18,000 brave and strong Benjaminite fighters were killed. 45 The Benjaminites ran toward the desert. They ran to a place called the rock of Rimmon. But the Israelites killed 5,000 Benjaminites along the roads. They kept chasing them as far as a place named Gidom. And they killed 2,000 more Benjaminites there.

46 On that day 25,000 Benjaminites were killed. All of them had fought bravely with swords. 47 But 600 Benjaminites ran to the rock of Rimmon in the desert. They stayed there for four months. 48 Then the men of Israel went back to the land of Benjamin. They killed the people in every city. They also killed the animals. They destroyed everything they could find. And they burned every city they found.

Footnotes

  1. 20:1 Dan . . . Beersheba Dan was the city farthest north in Israel. Beersheba was the city farthest south. So this means all the people of Israel.

The Israelites Punish the Benjamites

20 Then all Israel(A) from Dan to Beersheba(B) and from the land of Gilead came together as one(C) and assembled(D) before the Lord in Mizpah.(E) The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand men(F) armed with swords. (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”

So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah(G) in Benjamin to spend the night.(H) During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me.(I) They raped my concubine, and she died.(J) I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance,(K) because they committed this lewd and outrageous act(L) in Israel. Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.(M)

All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots.(N) 10 We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah[a] in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.” 11 So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.(O)

12 The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you?(P) 13 Now turn those wicked men(Q) of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.(R)

But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. 14 From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. 15 At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. 16 Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed,(S) each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

17 Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.

18 The Israelites went up to Bethel[b](T) and inquired of God.(U) They said, “Who of us is to go up first(V) to fight(W) against the Benjamites?”

The Lord replied, “Judah(X) shall go first.”

19 The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. 20 The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21 The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites(Y) on the battlefield that day. 22 But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord(Z) until evening,(AA) and they inquired of the Lord.(AB) They said, “Shall we go up again to fight(AC) against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”

The Lord answered, “Go up against them.”

24 Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. 25 This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites,(AD) all of them armed with swords.

26 Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the Lord.(AE) They fasted(AF) that day until evening and presented burnt offerings(AG) and fellowship offerings(AH) to the Lord.(AI) 27 And the Israelites inquired of the Lord.(AJ) (In those days the ark of the covenant of God(AK) was there, 28 with Phinehas son of Eleazar,(AL) the son of Aaron, ministering before it.)(AM) They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?”

The Lord responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.(AN)

29 Then Israel set an ambush(AO) around Gibeah. 30 They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 31 The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away(AP) from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel(AQ) and the other to Gibeah. 32 While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,”(AR) the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”

33 All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place(AS) on the west[c] of Gibeah.[d] 34 Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize(AT) how near disaster was.(AU) 35 The Lord defeated Benjamin(AV) before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.

Now the men of Israel had given way(AW) before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush(AX) they had set near Gibeah. 37 Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword.(AY) 38 The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke(AZ) from the city,(BA) 39 and then the Israelites would counterattack.

The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, “We are defeating them as in the first battle.”(BB) 40 But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke.(BC) 41 Then the Israelites counterattacked,(BD) and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come(BE) on them. 42 So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily[e] overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters.(BF) 45 As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon,(BG) the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.

46 On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite(BH) swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. 47 But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48 The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.(BI)

Footnotes

  1. Judges 20:10 One Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts Geba, a variant of Gibeah
  2. Judges 20:18 Or to the house of God; also in verse 26
  3. Judges 20:33 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  4. Judges 20:33 Hebrew Geba, a variant of Gibeah
  5. Judges 20:43 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.