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. 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. (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?” 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. 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. 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. Behold, all you sons of Israel, (G)give your [e]response and advice here.”

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. 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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Footnotes

  1. Judges 20:2 Lit cornerstones
  2. Judges 20:2 Lit men
  3. Judges 20:5 Or landowners
  4. Judges 20:5 Lit against me
  5. Judges 20:7 Lit word
  6. Judges 20:10 Lit take
  7. Judges 20:10 Heb Geba
  8. Judges 20:10 Lit do
  9. Judges 20:11 Lit companions as
  10. Judges 20:12 Lit tribes
  11. Judges 20:13 Lit sons of Belial
  12. Judges 20:15 Or mustered
  13. Judges 20:15 Or mustered
  14. Judges 20:17 Or mustered
  15. Judges 20:21 Lit destroyed
  16. Judges 20:24 Lit approached
  17. Judges 20:34 Lit heavy
  18. Judges 20:34 Lit they
  19. Judges 20:34 Lit touching
  20. Judges 20:35 Lit day; all these drew
  21. Judges 20:36 Lit struck
  22. Judges 20:36 Lit place
  23. Judges 20:39 Lit struck
  24. Judges 20:41 Lit touching
  25. Judges 20:43 Lit sunrise
  26. Judges 20:45 As in LXX; Heb And they
  27. Judges 20:45 Lit gleaned
  28. Judges 20:45 Lit as far as
  29. Judges 20:45 Lit struck

The Israelis Attack the Tribe of Benjamin

20 Then the entire Israeli nation—from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the territory of Gilead—came out for war. The army assembled as one united force to God at Mizpah. The officials of the entire nation, including every tribe of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God: 400,000 foot soldiers, all of them[a] expert swordsmen. While the descendants of Benjamin were learning that the Israelis had gone up to Mizpah, the Israelis asked, “Somebody tell us how this evil could happen?”

So the descendant of Levi, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up and replied, “I came to spend the night at Gibeah, which is part of Benjamin, along with my mistress. But the officials of Gibeah attacked me and surrounded the house because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they tortured my mistress to death. So I grabbed my mistress, cut her in pieces, and sent her remains[b] throughout the territory of Israel’s inheritance, because they’ve committed a vile, stupid outrage in Israel. So look, all you Israelis! Speak up and give us your advice!”

Then the entire army stood up as a single unit and declared, “Nobody’s going back to his tent, and nobody’s going home! This is what we’ll do to Gibeah: we’re going to assemble an army by lottery. 10 We’ll take ten men out of 100 from all of the tribes of Israel. We’ll appoint 100 out of 1,000 and 1,000 out of 10,000 to supply provisions for the army. And when we reach Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, we’ll punish them for all of the stupid things that they’ve done in Israel.” 11 That’s how the army of Israel came to be gathered together to attack the city, united as a single unit.

12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the entire tribe of Benjamin to ask them, “What is this evil thing that has occurred among you? 13 Now then, hand over the men—those ungodly men,[c] and we’ll execute them in order to remove this evil from Israel.”

But the descendants of Benjamin wouldn’t obey the request of their own relatives, the Israelis, 14 so the descendants of Benjamin assembled from the cities of Gibeah to fight the Israelis in battle. 15 The day of the battle,[d] the army from the descendants of Benjamin numbered 26,000 expert swordsmen from their cities, not including the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered 700 special forces soldiers. 16 Out of all these soldiers, 700 of them were left-handed—and each one could sling a stone at a hair and never miss. 17 But the Israeli army—not counting the tribe of Benjamin—numbered 400,000 expert swordsmen, all of them battle-hardened soldiers.[e]

Civil War Lays Waste to the Tribe of Benjamin

18 The Israelis mounted up, traveled to Bethel, and asked God what to do.[f] They said, “Who is to lead us in our opening attack against the descendants of Benjamin?”

The Lord replied, “Judah is to open the attack.”

19 So the Israelis got up in the morning, encamped near Gibeah, 20 and the army of Israel went out to fight the tribe of Benjamin, assembling in battle array against them at Gibeah. 21 The descendants of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and 22,000 soldiers of Israel fell in battle that day.

22 But the army—the men of Israel—encouraged themselves and arrayed for battle again the next day in the same place where they had gathered the day before. 23 From there[g] the Israelis went up and wept in the Lord’s presence until evening. Then they asked the Lord, “Should we attack the descendants of[h] Benjamin again?”

The Lord replied, “Attack them.”[i]

24 So the Israelis attacked the descendants of Benjamin for a second day, 25 and the tribe of Benjamin went to war against them from Gibeah during that second day, and 18,000 soldiers from the Israelis—all of them expert swordsmen—fell to the ground. 26 All the Israelis, including its army, went up from there to Bethel and wept, remaining there in the Lord’s presence, fasting throughout the day until dusk, when they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings in the Lord’s presence. 27 The Israelis inquired of the Lord, since the Ark of the Covenant was there[j] at that time 28 while Eleazar’s son Phinehas, a descendant of Aaron, served before it in those days. They asked, “Should we go out to war again against the descendants of our relative Benjamin, or shall we cease?”

And the Lord answered, “Go out, and tomorrow I will deliver them into your control.”

29 So Israel set soldiers in ambush around Gibeah. 30 The Israelis went out against the descendants of Benjamin on the third day, arraying themselves against Gibeah as they had done previously. 31 They attacked the army and were drawn away from the city as they began to inflict casualties on the soldiers along the roads to Bethel and Gibeah, just as they had done the other times. About 30 soldiers from Israel fell in battle there[k] and in the fields.

32 Then the descendants of Benjamin told themselves,[l] “They’re falling right in front of us, just like before!”

But the army of Israel told themselves, “Let’s draw them away by escaping to the highways from the city.” 33 So the entire army of Israel moved from their location and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamer while that part of their army moved from their ambush positions from Maareh-geba. 34 As 10,000 of Israel’s best soldiers came to fight Gibeah, the battle became fierce, but the army of Benjamin didn’t know that disaster was close at hand. 35 The Lord struck Benjamin in the full view of Israel. As a result, the Israelis destroyed 25,100 soldiers of Benjamin that day, all expert swordsmen.

36 Then the descendants of Benjamin realized that they had been defeated. The army of Israel pretended to retreat from the army of Benjamin, knowing that they had set some soldiers in ambush near Gibeah. 37 The soldiers in ambush rushed out to attack Gibeah, deploying in force[m] and executing the entire city with swords. 38 Meanwhile, the army of Israel had arranged to signal their soldiers who had been hiding in ambush by sending up a cloud of smoke from the city. 39 The army of Israel turned around in the battle, and the army of Benjamin began to attack and kill about 30 soldiers, thinking, “Now we’re really defeating them,[n] just like before.”

40 But then the smoke began to rise from the city in a column. The army of Benjamin observed behind them that the whole city was going up in flames[o] straight into the sky! 41 At that point, as the army of Israel turned back to face the army of Benjamin,[p] the army of Benjamin was filled with terror, because they realized that disaster was about to overtake them. 42 So they turned tail and ran away from the army of Israel toward the wilderness, but they were overtaken in battle when soldiers came out from the cities to destroy them.[q] 43 They surrounded the army of Benjamin, pursuing them ceaselessly until they defeated them near the east-facing[r] border of Gibeah. 44 That’s how 18,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin fell in battle, all of whom were valiant soldiers. 45 The rest of them turned and ran into the wilderness in the direction of the rock of Rimmon, but 5,000 of them were killed on the highways while 2,000 of them were overtaken and killed near Gidom.

46 To sum up, the soldiers from the tribe of Benjamin who died that day totaled 25,000 men, all of them expert swordsmen and valiant soldiers. 47 However, 600 soldiers ran into the wilderness in the direction of the rock of Rimmon, where they remained as fugitives for four months. 48 Meanwhile, the army of Israel went back to fight the surviving[s] descendants of Benjamin. They attacked the entire city with swords, including its cattle and everyone they could find. Then they set fire to all of the cities that they could find.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 20:2 The Heb. lacks all of them
  2. Judges 20:6 The Heb. lacks remains
  3. Judges 20:13 Lit. men of Belial; i.e. men so wicked as to be worthy of death
  4. Judges 20:15 The Heb. lacks of the battle
  5. Judges 20:17 Lit. them men of war
  6. Judges 20:18 The Heb. lacks what to do
  7. Judges 20:23 Lit. Then
  8. Judges 20:23 Lit. of my brother; the descendants of Benjamin personified as an individual
  9. Judges 20:23 Lit. him; i.e. the descendants of Benjamin personified as an individual
  10. Judges 20:27 The Heb. lacks there
  11. Judges 20:31 The Heb. lacks fell in battle there
  12. Judges 20:32 The Heb. lacks told themselves
  13. Judges 20:37 The Heb. lacks in force
  14. Judges 20:39 Lit. Now they are defeated in front of us
  15. Judges 20:40 The Heb. lacks in flames
  16. Judges 20:41 The Heb. lacks back to face the army of Benjamin
  17. Judges 20:42 Lit. them among them
  18. Judges 20:43 Lit. near the rising of the sun
  19. Judges 20:48 The Heb. lacks surviving