Judges 20

1Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh.

2And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.

3(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?

4And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.footnote a

5And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead.footnote b

6And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.

7Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.

8And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house.

9But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;

10And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.

11So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.footnote c

12And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?

13Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:

14But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.

15And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

16Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.

17And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.

18And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

19And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.

20And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.

21And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.

22And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.

23(And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)

24And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.

25And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.

26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

27And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

28And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.

29And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.

30And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.

31And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.footnote dfootnote e

32And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.

33And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.

34And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.

35And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword.

36So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.

37And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.footnote f

38Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city.footnote gfootnote hfootnote i

39And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.footnote j

40But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.footnote k

41And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them.footnote l

42Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.

43Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.footnote mfootnote n

44And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour.

45And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.

46So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour.

47But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.

48And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.footnote ofootnote p

The Decree of the Assembly

1Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah. 2The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords. 3(Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?”

4So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died. 6Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. 7Behold, all you Israelites, give your advice and verdict here and now.”

8Then all the people stood as one man and said, “Not one of us will return to his tent or to his house. 9Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will go against it as the lot dictates. 10We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to supply provisions for the army when they go to Gibeahfootnote a in Benjamin to punish them for the atrocity they have committed in Israel.”

11So all the men of Israel gathered as one man, united against the city. 12And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 13Hand over the wicked men of Gibeah so we can put them to death and purge Israel of this evil.”
But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow Israelites. 14And from their cities they came together at Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites. 15On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah. 16Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.

17The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.

Civil War against Benjamin

18The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?”
“Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.

19The next morning the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah. 20And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took up their battle positions at Gibeah.

21And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.

22But the Israelite army took courage and again took their battle positions in the same place where they had arrayed themselves on the first day. 23They went up and wept before the LORD until evening, inquiring of Him, “Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?”
And the LORD answered, “Go up against them.”

24On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites. 25That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

26Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. 27And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?”
The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

29So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah. 30On the third day the Israelites went up against the Benjamites and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as they had done before. 31The Benjamites came out against them and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

32“We are defeating them as before,” said the Benjamites.
But the Israelites said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city onto the roads.”

33So all the men of Israel got up from their places and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar, and the Israelites in ambush charged from their positions west of Gibeah.footnote b 34Then 10,000 select men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them. 35The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36Then the Benjamites realized they had been defeated.
Now the men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin because they were relying on the ambush they had set against Gibeah. 37The men in ambush rushed suddenly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword.

38The men of Israel had arranged a signal with the men in ambush: When they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 39the men of Israel would turn in the battle.
When the Benjamites had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Israel, they said, “They are defeated before us as in the first battle.” 40But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, the Benjamites looked behind them and saw the whole city going up in smoke.

41Then the men of Israel turned back on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had come upon them. 42So they fled before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and the men coming out of the cities struck them down there. 43They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and easily overtook them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44And 18,000 Benjamites fell, all men of valor.

45Then the Benjamites turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel cut down 5,000 men on the roads. And they overtook them at Gidom and struck down 2,000 more.

46That day 25,000 Benjamite swordsmen fell, all men of valor. 47But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48And the men of Israel turned back against the other Benjamites and put to the sword all the cities, including the animals and everything else they found. And they burned down all the cities in their path.