JudgesChapter 20

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¹Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out. The whole community gathered together as one before the LORD at Mizpah. ²The leaders of all the people and of all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God's people. There were 400,000 soldiers on foot, armed with swords. ³(Meanwhile, the people of Benjamin heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) The Israelites said, "Tell us how this evil thing happened." ⁴So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered. He said, "My concubine and I came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. ⁵During the night, the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house. They meant to kill me. Instead they abused my concubine, and she died. ⁶So I took my concubine and cut her into pieces. I sent the pieces all through the land that Israel was given. I did this because these men did a shameful, evil thing in Israel. ⁷Now, all you Israelites, give your advice. Decide here and now what to do." ⁸Then all the people stood up together as one. They said, "Not one of us will go back to his tent. Not one of us will go home. ⁹Here is what we will do to Gibeah. We will cast lots to decide who will attack it. ¹⁰We will take ten men out of every 100 from all the tribes of Israel. We'll take 100 out of every 1,000, and 1,000 out of every 10,000. They will get food for the army. Then the army will go to Gibeah in Benjamin. They will punish the people there for the horrible thing they did in Israel." ¹¹So all the men of Israel came together as one. They were united against the city. ¹²The tribes of Israel sent men all through the tribe of Benjamin. They said, "What is this evil thing that has happened among you? ¹³Hand over those wicked men of Gibeah. Then we can put them to death and get rid of this evil in Israel." But the people of Benjamin would not listen to their fellow Israelites. ¹⁴Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah. They went out to fight against the Israelites. ¹⁵That day the people of Benjamin called up 26,000 soldiers with swords from their towns. They also had 700 chosen men from Gibeah. ¹⁶Among all these soldiers were 700 chosen men who were left-handed. Each of them could throw a stone with a sling at a hair and not miss. ¹⁷The men of Israel, not counting Benjamin, called up 400,000 soldiers with swords. Each one was an experienced fighter. ¹⁸The Israelites went up to Bethel and asked God, "Which of us should go first to fight against the people of Benjamin?" The LORD answered, "Judah will go first." ¹⁹The next morning the Israelites got up and camped near Gibeah. ²⁰The men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin. They got into their battle lines at Gibeah. ²¹The men of Benjamin came out of Gibeah. That day they killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield. ²²But the Israelite army found courage again. They took their battle places again in the same place as on the first day. ²³The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening. They asked him, "Should we go out again to fight against our brothers from Benjamin?" The LORD answered, "Go up against them." ²⁴So on the second day the Israelites marched against the people of Benjamin. ²⁵That day the men of Benjamin came out from Gibeah against them again. They killed 18,000 more Israelites, all of them armed with swords. ²⁶Then all the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel. They sat there and wept before the LORD. That day they went without food until evening. They brought burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. ²⁷The Israelites asked the LORD what to do. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there. ²⁸Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, "Should we go out again to fight against our brothers from Benjamin? Or should we stop?" The LORD answered, "Fight. Tomorrow I will hand them over to you." ²⁹So Israel hid men all around Gibeah to attack by surprise. ³⁰On the third day the Israelites went up against the people of Benjamin. They got into their battle lines against Gibeah, as they had done before. ³¹The men of Benjamin came out to fight them. They were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the Israelites as before. They killed about 30 men of Israel in the fields and on the roads. One road went up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. ³²The men of Benjamin said, "We're beating them like before!" But the Israelites said, "Let's run back. Let's lead them away from the city onto the roads." ³³So all the men of Israel left their places and got into battle lines at Baal-tamar. Then the Israelites who were hiding rushed out from their places west of Gibeah. ³⁴Then 10,000 chosen men from all Israel attacked Gibeah head-on. The fighting was fierce. But the men of Benjamin did not know that disaster was about to strike them. ³⁵The LORD defeated Benjamin in front of Israel. That day the Israelites killed 25,100 men of Benjamin. All of them were armed with swords. ³⁶Then the people of Benjamin saw that they were beaten. The men of Israel had pulled back from Benjamin. They did this because they were counting on the men hiding near Gibeah. ³⁷The men who were hiding rushed suddenly into Gibeah. They spread out and killed everyone in the city with their swords. ³⁸The men of Israel had agreed on a signal with the men who were hiding. The hidden men would send up a big cloud of smoke from the city. ³⁹Then the men of Israel would turn around in the battle. The men of Benjamin had begun to strike them down. They had killed about 30 men of Israel. They said, "We're beating them like in the first battle!" ⁴⁰But then the pillar of smoke began to rise from the city. The men of Benjamin looked behind them. They saw smoke rising from the whole city. ⁴¹Then the men of Israel turned around and attacked them. The men of Benjamin were terrified. They saw that disaster had come on them. ⁴²So they ran from the men of Israel toward the wilderness. But they could not escape the fighting. The men coming out of the towns killed them there. ⁴³They surrounded the men of Benjamin and chased them. They easily caught them in the area east of Gibeah. ⁴⁴18,000 men of Benjamin died. All of them were brave warriors. ⁴⁵Then the rest turned and ran toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon. The Israelites killed 5,000 men along the roads. They chased them as far as Gidom and killed 2,000 more. ⁴⁶That day 25,000 soldiers of Benjamin who fought with swords died. All of them were brave warriors. ⁴⁷But 600 men turned and ran into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed there four months. ⁴⁸Then the men of Israel went back to the rest of the land of Benjamin. They killed everyone in all the towns with their swords. They killed the animals and everything else they found. They burned down every town they came to.