Judges 17-21

Living Bible

17 In the hill country of Ephraim lived a man named Micah.

² One day he said to his mother, “That thousand dollars you thought was stolen from you, and you were cursing about—well, I stole it!”

“God bless you for confessing it,” his mother replied. ³ So he returned the money to her.

“I am going to give it to the Lord as a credit for your account,” she declared. “I’ll have an idol carved for you and plate it with the silver.”

^4-5 So his mother took a fifth of it to a silversmith, and the idol he made from it was placed in Micah’s shrine. Micah had many idols in his collection, also an ephod and some teraphim, and he installed one of his sons as the priest. ⁶ (For in those days Israel had no king, so everyone did whatever he wanted to—whatever seemed right in his own eyes.)

^7-8 One day a young priest^[a] from the town of Bethlehem, in Judah, arrived in that area of Ephraim, looking for a good place to live. He happened to stop at Micah’s house as he was traveling through.

⁹ “Where are you from?” Micah asked him.

And he replied, “I am a priest from Bethlehem, in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.”

^10-11 “Well, stay here with me,” Micah said, “and you can be my priest. I will give you one hundred dollars a year plus a new suit and your board and room.” The young man agreed to this and became as one of Micah’s sons. ¹² So Micah consecrated him as his personal priest.

¹³ “I know the Lord will really bless me now,” Micah exclaimed, “because now I have a genuine priest working for me!”^[b]

18 As has already been stated, there was no king in Israel at that time. The tribe of Dan was trying to find a place to settle, for they had not yet driven out the people living in the land assigned to them. ² So the men of Dan chose five army heroes from the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol as scouts to go and spy out the land they were supposed to settle in. Arriving in the hill country of Ephraim, they stayed at Micah’s home. ³ Noticing the young Levite’s accent, they took him aside and asked him, “What are you doing here? Why did you come?” ⁴ He told them about his contract with Micah, and that he was his personal priest.

⁵ “Well, then,” they said, “ask God whether or not our trip will be successful.”

⁶ “Yes,” the priest replied, “all is well. The Lord is taking care of you.”

⁷ So the five men went on to the town of Laish and noticed how secure everyone felt. Their manner of life was Phoenician, and they were wealthy. They lived quietly and were unprepared for an attack, for there were no tribes in the area strong enough to try it. They lived a great distance from their relatives in Sidon, and had little or no contact with the nearby villages. ⁸ So the spies returned to their people in Zorah and Eshtaol.

“What about it?” they were asked. “What did you find?”

^9-10 And the men replied, “Let’s attack! We have seen the land and it is ours for the taking—a broad, fertile, wonderful place—a real paradise. The people aren’t even prepared to defend themselves! Come on, let’s go! For God has given it to us!”

¹¹ So six hundred armed troops of the tribe of Dan set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. ¹² They camped first at a place west of Kiriath-jearim in Judah (which is still called “The Camp of Dan”), ¹³ then they went on up into the hill country of Ephraim.

As they passed the home of Micah, ¹⁴ the five spies told the others. “There is a shrine in there with an ephod, some teraphim, and many plated idols. It’s obvious what we ought to do!”

^15-16 So the five men went over to the house and with all of the armed men standing just outside the gate, they talked to the young priest and asked him how he was getting along. ¹⁷ Then the five spies entered the shrine and took the idols, the ephod, and the teraphim.

¹⁸ “What are you doing?” the young priest demanded when he saw them carrying them out.

¹⁹ “Be quiet and come with us,” they said. “Be a priest to all of us. Isn’t it better for you to be a priest to a whole tribe in Israel instead of just to one man in his private home?”

²⁰ The young priest was then quite happy to go with them, and he took along the ephod, the teraphim, and the idols. ²¹ They started on their way again, placing their children, cattle, and household goods at the front of the column. ²² When they were quite a distance from Micah’s home, Micah and some of his neighbors came chasing after them, ²³ yelling at them to stop.

“What do you want, chasing after us like this?” the men of Dan demanded.

²⁴ “What do you mean, ‘What do I want’!” Micah retorted. “You’ve taken away all my gods and my priest, and I have nothing left!”

²⁵ “Be careful how you talk, mister,” the men of Dan replied. “Somebody’s apt to get angry and kill every one of you.”

²⁶ So the men of Dan kept going. When Micah saw that there were too many of them for him to handle, he turned back home.

²⁷ Then, with Micah’s idols and the priest, the men of Dan arrived at the city of Laish. There weren’t even any guards, so they went in and slaughtered all the people and burned the city to the ground. ²⁸ There was no one to help the inhabitants, for they were too far away from Sidon, and they had no local allies, for they had no dealings with anyone. This happened in the valley next to Beth-rehob. Then the people of the tribe of Dan rebuilt the city and lived there. ²⁹ The city was named “Dan” after their ancestor, Israel’s son, but it had originally been called Laish.

³⁰ Then they set up the idols and appointed a man named Jonathan (son of Gershom and grandson of Moses!) and his sons as their priests. This family continued as priests until the city was finally conquered by its enemies. ³¹ So Micah’s idols were worshiped by the tribe of Dan as long as the Tabernacle remained at Shiloh.

19 At this time before Israel had a king, there was a man of the tribe of Levi living on the far side of the hill country of Ephraim, who brought home a girl from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine. ² But she became angry with him and ran away, and returned to her father’s home in Bethlehem, and was there about four months. ³ Then her husband, taking along a servant and an extra donkey, went to see her to try to win her back again. When he arrived at her home, she let him in and introduced him to her father, who was delighted to meet him. ⁴ Her father urged him to stay awhile, so he stayed three days, and they all had a very pleasant time.

⁵ On the fourth day they were up early, ready to leave, but the girl’s father insisted on their having breakfast first. ⁶ Then he pleaded with him to stay one more day, as they were having such a good time. ⁷ At first the man refused, but his father-in-law kept urging him until finally he gave in. ⁸ The next morning they were up early again, and again the girl’s father pleaded, “Stay just today and leave sometime this evening.” So they had another day of feasting.

⁹ That afternoon as he and his wife and servant were preparing to leave, his father-in-law said, “Look, it’s getting late. Stay just tonight, and we will have a pleasant evening together and tomorrow you can get up early and be on your way.”

¹⁰ But this time the man was adamant, so they left, getting as far as Jerusalem (also called Jebus) before dark.

¹¹ His servant said to him, “It’s getting too late to travel; let’s stay here tonight.”

^12-13 “No,” his master said, “we can’t stay in this heathen city where there are no Israelites—we will go on to Gibeah, or possibly Ramah.”

¹⁴ So they went on. The sun was setting just as they came to Gibeah, a village of the tribe of Benjamin, ¹⁵ so they went there for the night. But as no one invited them in, they camped in the village square. ¹⁶ Just then an old man came by on his way home from his work in the fields. (He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but was living now in Gibeah, even though it was in the territory of Benjamin.) ¹⁷ When he saw the travelers camped in the square, he asked them where they were from and where they were going.

¹⁸ “We’re on the way home from Bethlehem, in Judah,” the man replied. “I live on the far edge of the Ephraim hill country, near Shiloh. But no one has taken us in for the night, ¹⁹ even though we have fodder for our donkeys and plenty of food and wine for ourselves.”

²⁰ “Don’t worry,” the old man said, “be my guests; for you mustn’t stay here in the square. It’s too dangerous.”

²¹ So he took them home with him. He fed their donkeys while they rested, and afterward they had supper together. ²² Just as they were beginning to warm to the occasion, a gang of sex perverts gathered around the house and began beating at the door and yelling at the old man to bring out the man who was staying with him, so they could rape him. ²³ The old man stepped outside to talk to them.

“No, my brothers, don’t do such a dastardly act,” he begged, “for he is my guest. ²⁴ Here, take my virgin daughter and this man’s wife. I’ll bring them out and you can do whatever you like to them—but don’t do such a thing to this man.”

²⁵ But they wouldn’t listen to him. Then the girl’s husband pushed her out to them, and they abused her all night, taking turns raping her until morning. Finally, just at dawn, they let her go. ²⁶ She fell down at the door of the house and lay there until it was light. ²⁷ When her husband opened the door to be on his way, he found her there, fallen down in front of the door with her hands digging into the threshold.

²⁸ “Well, come on,” he said. “Let’s get going.”

But there was no answer, for she was dead; so he threw her across the donkey’s back and took her home. ²⁹ When he got there he took a knife and cut her body into twelve parts and sent one piece to each tribe of Israel. ³⁰ Then the entire nation was roused to action against the men of Benjamin because of this awful deed.

“There hasn’t been such a horrible crime since Israel left Egypt,” everyone said. “We’ve got to do something about it.”

20 ^1-2 Then the entire nation of Israel sent their leaders and 450,000 troops to assemble with one mind before the Lord at Mizpah. They came from as far away as Dan and Beersheba, and everywhere between, and from across the Jordan in the land of Gilead. ³ (Word of the mobilization of the Israeli forces at Mizpah soon reached the land of Benjamin.) The chiefs of Israel now called for the murdered woman’s husband and asked him just what had happened.

⁴ “We arrived one evening at Gibeah, a village in Benjamin,” he began. ⁵ “That night the men of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my wife until she was dead. ⁶ So I cut her body into twelve pieces and sent the pieces throughout the land of Israel, for these men have committed a terrible crime. ⁷ Now then, sons of Israel, express your mind and give me your counsel!”

^8-10 And as one man they replied, “Not one of us will return home until we have punished the village of Gibeah. A tenth of the army will be selected by lot as a supply line to bring us food, and the rest of us will destroy Gibeah for this horrible deed.”

¹¹ So the whole nation united in this task.

¹² Then messengers were sent to the tribe of Benjamin, asking, “Did you know about the terrible thing that was done among you? ¹³ Give up these evil men from the city of Gibeah so that we can execute them and purge Israel of her evil.” But the people of Benjamin wouldn’t listen. ^14-15 Instead, 26,000 of them arrived in Gibeah to join the 700 local men in their defense against the rest of Israel. ¹⁶ (Among all these there were 700 men who were left-handed sharpshooters. They could hit a target within a hair’s breadth, never missing!) ¹⁷ The army of Israel, not counting the men of Benjamin, numbered 400,000 men.

¹⁸ Before the battle the Israeli army went to Bethel first to ask counsel from God. “Which tribe shall lead us against the people of Benjamin?” they asked.

And the Lord replied, “Judah shall go first.”

^19-20 So the entire army left early the next morning to go to Gibeah, to attack the men of Benjamin. ²¹ But the men defending the village stormed out and killed 22,000 Israelis that day. ^22-24 Then the Israeli army wept before the Lord until evening and asked him, “Shall we fight further against our brother Benjamin?”

And the Lord said, “Yes.” So the men of Israel took courage and went out again the next day to fight at the same place. ²⁵ And that day they lost another 18,000 men, all experienced swordsmen.

²⁶ Then the entire army went up to Bethel and wept before the Lord and fasted until evening, offering burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. ^27-28 (The Ark of God was in Bethel in those days. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, was the priest.)

The men of Israel asked the Lord, “Shall we go out again and fight against our brother Benjamin, or shall we stop?”

And the Lord said, “Go, for tomorrow I will see to it that you defeat the men of Benjamin.”

²⁹ So the Israeli army set an ambush all around the village, ³⁰ and went out again on the third day and set themselves in their usual battle formation. ³¹ When the army of Benjamin came out of the town to attack, the Israeli forces retreated and Benjamin was drawn away from the town as they chased after Israel. And as they had done previously, Benjamin began to kill the men of Israel along the roadway running between Bethel and Gibeah, so that about thirty of them died.

³² Then the army of Benjamin shouted, “We’re defeating them again!” But the armies of Israel had agreed in advance to run away so that the army of Benjamin would chase them and be drawn away from the town. ³³ But when the main army of Israel reached Baal-tamar, it turned and attacked, and the 10,000 men in ambush west of Geba jumped up from where they were ³⁴ and advanced against the rear of the army of Benjamin, who still didn’t realize the impending disaster. ^35-39 So the Lord helped Israel defeat Benjamin, and the Israeli army killed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day, leaving but a tiny remnant of their forces.

Summary of the Battle: The army of Israel retreated from the men of Benjamin in order to give the ambush more room for maneuvering. When the men of Benjamin had killed about thirty of the Israelis, they were confident of a massive slaughter just as on the previous days. But then the men in ambush rushed into the village and slaughtered everyone in it, and set it on fire. The great cloud of smoke pouring into the sky was the signal for the Israeli army to turn around and attack the army of Benjamin, ^40-41 who now looked behind them and were terrified to discover that their city was on fire, and that they were in serious trouble. ⁴² So they ran toward the wilderness, but the Israelis chased after them, and the men who had set the ambush came out and joined the slaughter from the rear. ⁴³ They encircled the army of Benjamin east of Gibeah, and killed most of them there. ⁴⁴ Eighteen thousand of the Benjamin troops died in that day’s battle. ⁴⁵ The rest of the army fled into the wilderness toward the rock of Rimmon, but 5,000 were killed along the way, and 2,000 more near Gidom.

^46-47 So the tribe of Benjamin lost 25,000 brave warriors that day, leaving only 600 men who escaped to the rock of Rimmon, where they lived for four months. ⁴⁸ Then the Israeli army returned and slaughtered the entire population of the tribe of Benjamin—men, women, children, and cattle—and burned down every city and village in the entire land.

21 The leaders of Israel had vowed at Mizpah never to let their daughters marry a man from the tribe of Benjamin. ² And now the Israeli leaders met at Bethel and sat before God until evening, weeping bitterly.

³ “O Lord God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened, that now one of our tribes is missing?”

⁴ The next morning they were up early and built an altar, and offered sacrifices and peace offerings on it. ⁵ And they said among themselves, “Was any tribe of Israel not represented when we held our council before the Lord at Mizpah?” For at that time it was agreed by solemn oath that anyone who refused to come must die. ⁶ There was deep sadness throughout all Israel for the loss of their brother tribe, Benjamin.

“Gone,” they kept saying to themselves, “gone—an entire tribe of Israel has been cut off and is gone. ⁷ And how shall we get wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters?”

^8-9 Then they thought again of their oath to kill anyone who refused to come to Mizpah and discovered that no one had attended from Jabesh-gilead. ^10-12 So they sent 12,000 of their best soldiers to destroy the people of Jabesh-gilead. All the men, married women, and children were slain, but the young virgins of marriageable age were saved. There were 400 of these, and they were brought to the camp at Shiloh.

¹³ Then Israel sent a peace delegation to the little remnant of the men of Benjamin at Rimmon Rock. ¹⁴ The 400 girls were given to them as wives, and they returned to their homes; but there were not enough of these girls for all of them. ¹⁵ (What a sad time it was in Israel in those days because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.)

¹⁶ “What shall we do for wives for the others, since all the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead?” the leaders of Israel asked. ¹⁷ “There must be some way to get wives for them, so that an entire tribe of Israel will not be lost forever. ¹⁸ But we can’t give them our own daughters. We have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this shall be cursed of God.”

¹⁹ Suddenly someone thought of the annual religious festival held in the fields of Shiloh, between Lebonah and Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem.

²⁰ They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “Go and hide in the vineyards, ²¹ and when the girls of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out and catch them and take them home with you to be your wives! ²² And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, ‘Please be understanding and let them have your daughters, for we didn’t find enough wives for them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead, and you couldn’t have given your daughters to them without being guilty.’”

²³ So the men of Benjamin did as they were told and kidnapped the girls who took part in the celebration, and carried them off to their own land. Then they rebuilt their cities and lived in them. ²⁴ So the people of Israel returned to their homes.

²⁵ (There was no king in Israel in those days, and every man did whatever he thought was right.)