Judges 20
New American Standard Bible
Resolve to Punish the Guilty
20 Then all the sons of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the congregation assembled as one person to the Lord at (A)Mizpah. 2 And the [a]leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot [b]soldiers (B)who drew the sword. 3 (Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wickedness take place?” 4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came with my concubine to spend the night at Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. 5 But the [c](C)citizens of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night, [d]threatening me. They intended to kill me; instead, they (D)raped my concubine so that she died. 6 And I (E)took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for (F)they have committed an outrageous sin and vile act in Israel. 7 Behold, all you sons of Israel, (G)give your [e]response and advice here.”
8 Then all the people rose up as one person, saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, nor will any of us go home. 9 But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up against it by lot. 10 And we will take ten men out of a hundred throughout the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to [f]supply provisions for the people, so that when they come to [g]Gibeah of Benjamin, they may [h]punish them for all the vile sin that they have committed in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, [i]united as one man.
12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire [j]tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has taken place among you? 13 Now then, turn over the men, the [k](H)worthless men who are in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and (I)remove this wickedness from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel. 14 Instead, the sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the sons of Israel. 15 From the cities on that day the (J)sons of Benjamin were [l]counted, twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were [m]counted, seven hundred choice men. 16 Out of all these people seven hundred (K)choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 Then the men of Israel besides Benjamin were [n]counted, four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
Civil War, Benjamin Defeated
18 Now the sons of Israel set out, went up to Bethel, and (L)inquired of God and said, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then the Lord said, “Judah shall go up first.”
19 So the sons of Israel got up in the morning and camped against Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel lined up for battle against them at Gibeah. 21 Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and [o](M)struck to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel. 22 But the people, the men of Israel, showed themselves courageous and lined up for battle again in the place where they had lined themselves up on the first day. 23 And (N)the sons of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and (O)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall we again advance for battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against him.”
24 So the sons of Israel [p]came against the sons of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah the second day and struck to the ground again eighteen thousand men of the sons of Israel; all of these drew the sword. 26 Then (P)all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel, and they wept and remained there before the Lord, and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 27 And the sons of Israel (Q)inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, Aaron’s son, stood before it to minister in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I stop?” And the Lord said, “Go up, (R)for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”
29 (S)So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. 30 And the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and lined up against Gibeah as at other times. 31 (T)When the sons of Benjamin went out against the people, they were lured away from the city, and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, on the roads (one of which goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah), and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the sons of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, like the first time.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let’s flee, so that we may draw them away from the city to the roads.” 33 Then all the men of Israel rose from their place and lined up at Baal-tamar; (U)and the men of Israel in ambush charged from their place, from Maareh-geba. 34 When ten thousand choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle became [q]fierce; (V)but [r]Benjamin did not know that disaster was [s]close to them. 35 And the Lord struck Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that [t]day, all who drew the sword.
36 So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were [u]defeated. (W)When the men of Israel gave [v]ground to Benjamin because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah, 37 (X)the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush also deployed and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the agreed sign between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was (Y)that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city. 39 Then the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, (Z)for they said, “Undoubtedly they are [w]defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, Benjamin looked (AA)behind them; and behold, the entire city was going up in smoke to heaven. 41 Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified; for they saw that (AB)disaster was [x]close to them. 42 Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel to flee in the (AC)direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them while those who attacked from the cities were annihilating them in the midst of them. 43 (AD)They surrounded Benjamin, pursued them without rest, and trampled them down opposite Gibeah toward the [y]east. 44 So eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all of these were valiant men. 45 [z]The rest turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of (AE)Rimmon, but they [aa]caught five thousand of them on the roads and overtook them [ab]at Gidom, and [ac]killed two thousand of them. 46 So all those of Benjamin who fell that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were valiant men. 47 But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 The men of Israel then turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.
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- Judges 20:2 Lit cornerstones
- Judges 20:2 Lit men
- Judges 20:5 Or landowners
- Judges 20:5 Lit against me
- Judges 20:7 Lit word
- Judges 20:10 Lit take
- Judges 20:10 Heb Geba
- Judges 20:10 Lit do
- Judges 20:11 Lit companions as
- Judges 20:12 Lit tribes
- Judges 20:13 Lit sons of Belial
- Judges 20:15 Or mustered
- Judges 20:15 Or mustered
- Judges 20:17 Or mustered
- Judges 20:21 Lit destroyed
- Judges 20:24 Lit approached
- Judges 20:34 Lit heavy
- Judges 20:34 Lit they
- Judges 20:34 Lit touching
- Judges 20:35 Lit day; all these drew
- Judges 20:36 Lit struck
- Judges 20:36 Lit place
- Judges 20:39 Lit struck
- Judges 20:41 Lit touching
- Judges 20:43 Lit sunrise
- Judges 20:45 As in LXX; Heb And they
- Judges 20:45 Lit gleaned
- Judges 20:45 Lit as far as
- Judges 20:45 Lit struck
Judges 20
Common English Bible
Civil war between the Benjaminites and the Israelites
20 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beer-sheba, as well as from the area of Gilead, marched out, and the group assembled as one body in the Lord’s presence at Mizpah. 2 The commanders of the people and of all the tribes of Israel took their place in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand foot soldiers armed with swords. 3 And the Benjaminites got word that the Israelites had marched up to Mizpah.
The Israelites inquired, “Tell us how this evil act happened.”
4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered, “My secondary wife and I came to Gibeah of Benjamin to spend the night, 5 and the leading citizens of Gibeah tried to attack me. They surrounded me in the house at night and were determined to kill me. They abused my secondary wife until she died. 6 I took her, chopped her up, and sent her pieces into every part of Israel’s territory, because they had committed a disgraceful act in Israel. 7 All you Israelites, say what you think should be done here and now!”
8 At this, all the people stood as one to say, “Not a single one of us is going home or returning to our house! 9 This is what we’re now going to do to Gibeah: We’ll march up[a] against it as the lot determines. 10 From all the tribes of Israel, we’ll get ten men for every hundred, one hundred for every thousand, and one thousand for every ten thousand to take supplies for the troops who are going to pay back[b] Gibeah of Benjamin for the disgraceful act they’ve done in Israel.” 11 So all the Israelites joined together and were united as one against the city.
12 The Israelite tribes sent men throughout the whole tribe of Benjamin with this message: “What about this evil act that happened among you? 13 Now hand over those perverse men in Gibeah so that we can execute them and remove the evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites refused to comply with the demand of their own relatives the Israelites. 14 Instead, the Benjaminites from all the cities came together at Gibeah to march out for battle against the Israelites. 15 On that day, the Benjaminites called up from their cities twenty-six thousand men armed with swords, not counting those living in Gibeah.[c] 16 Out of this entire army, seven hundred specially chosen men were left-handed, and every one of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17 Not counting Benjamin, the Israelites called up four hundred thousand men armed with swords, and every one of them was a trained warrior.
18 Then the Israelites marched up to Bethel to ask for direction from God. They inquired, “Who should go up first to fight against the Benjaminites for us?”
And the Lord said, “Let the tribe of Judah be first.”
19 So the next morning, the Israelites got up and camped near Gibeah. 20 They marched out to fight against the Benjaminites, lining up in battle formation against them at Gibeah. 21 But the Benjaminites marched out from Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelite men that day.
23 [d] So the Israelites went back up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we move in again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites?”
And the Lord replied, “March out against them.”
22 The Israelite troops regrouped and lined up in battle formation again in the same place they had lined up the first day. 24 The Israelites moved in against the Benjaminites the second day. 25 But the Benjaminites marched out of Gibeah to meet them on that second day and cut down another eighteen thousand Israelite men, all of whom were armed with swords.
26 Then all the Israelite troops went back up to Bethel and wept, just sitting there in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that whole day until evening. Then they offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices to the Lord. 27 Now in those days the chest containing God’s covenant was there, 28 and Phinehas, Eleazar’s son and Aaron’s grandson, was in charge of ministering before it. The Israelites asked the Lord, “Should we march out once again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites or should we give up?”
And the Lord replied, “March up, for I’ll hand them to you tomorrow.”
29 So the Israelites set ambushes around Gibeah. 30 Three days later, the Israelites marched out against the Benjaminites. They lined up for battle against Gibeah as before. 31 When the Benjaminites came out to meet them, they were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down some of the troops just like the last time, about thirty Israelites along the main roads, one of which goes up to Bethel and one to Gibeah, as well as in the open fields. 32 The Benjaminites thought, They’re being wiped out before us like the first time. But the Israelites had planned, We’ll retreat and draw them away from the city toward the main roads. 33 The Israelites moved from their position and reformed their battle lines at Baal-tamar. Then the Israelites who had been set in ambush charged out from their positions west of Gibeah.[e] 34 Ten thousand specially chosen men from all the Israelites came against Gibeah. The fighting was fierce, and the Benjaminites didn’t realize that disaster was almost on them. 35 The Lord wiped out the Benjaminites before Israel. The Israelites slaughtered twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjaminite men that day, all of them armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjaminites saw that they had been defeated.
The Israelites had given ground to the Benjaminites because they relied on the ambush that they had set around Gibeah. 37 Indeed, those in the ambush had dashed swiftly into Gibeah and killed all the people in the city with their swords. 38 The plan between the main force of the Israelites and those in the ambush was that when they sent up a big cloud of smoke from the city, 39 the Israelites would turn around in battle. The Benjaminites had begun to defeat some of the Israelites and had killed about thirty men, thinking, They are definitely going to be wiped out before us, as in the first battle! 40 But then the column of smoke began to rise from the city. When the Benjaminites looked back, there was the entire city going up in smoke to the sky. 41 The main force of the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites lost heart, because they recognized that disaster had fallen on them. 42 They turned back before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but the fighting caught up with them, and those from the towns were slaughtering them there.[f] 43 They encircled the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah,[g] and trampled them to the east of Gibeah. 44 Eighteen thousand Benjaminites fell, all of whom were strong warriors. 45 When they turned back and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites picked off another five thousand men on the main roads. And when they caught up with them at Gidom, they struck down two thousand more.
46 All in all, the total number of Benjaminites who fell that day was twenty-five thousand men, all of whom were armed with swords and were strong warriors. 47 Six hundred men turned back and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 But the Israelites turned their attention to the rest of the Benjaminites and massacred them entirely—the city, the people, even the animals, and everything else they found. They also burned down every city they came across.
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- Judges 20:9 LXX; MT lacks We’ll march up.
- Judges 20:10 Cf LXX; Heb uncertain
- Judges 20:15 LXX, Vulg, Syr; MT adds seven hundred specially chosen men were called up.
- Judges 20:23 20:22 and 20:23 are reversed.
- Judges 20:33 Heb Geba
- Judges 20:42 Heb uncertain
- Judges 20:43 LXX; MT to a resting place
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