Judges
20
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Resolve
to Punish the Guilty
1 Then all the sons of Israel
from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the
congregation assembled as one man to the Lord
at Mizpah. 2 The [a]chiefs of
all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in
the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 foot [b]soldiers 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 men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night because
of me. They intended to kill me; instead, they ravished my concubine so that
she died. 6 And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in
pieces and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for they have
committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. 7 Behold, all
you sons of Israel, give your advice and counsel here.”
8 Then all the people arose as one man, saying, “Not one of us
will go to his tent, nor will any of us return to his house. 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 10 men out of 100 throughout the
tribes of Israel, and 100 out of 1,000, and 1,000 out of 10,000 to [c]supply food
for the people, that when they come to [d]Gibeah of
Benjamin, they may [e]punish them
for all the disgraceful
acts[D1] that they have committed in Israel.” 11 Thus
all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united as one man.
12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire [f]tribe of
Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has taken place among you? 13 Now
then, deliver up the men, the [g]worthless
fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove this
wickedness from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice
of their brothers, the sons of Israel. 14 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 sons of Benjamin
were [h]numbered,
26,000 men who draw the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were [i]numbered, 700 choice men. 16 Out
of all these people 700 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 [j]numbered, 400,000[D2] men who draw the sword; all these were men of war.
Civil
War, Benjamin Defeated
18 Now the sons of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and
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[D3] .”
19 So the sons of Israel arose in the morning and camped
against Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went out to battle against
Benjamin, and the men of Israel arrayed for battle against them at Gibeah. 21 Then
the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and [k]felled to the ground[D4] on that day 22,000 men of Israel. 22 But
the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and arrayed for battle again in the place where
they had arrayed themselves the first day. 23 The sons
of Israel went up and wept before the Lord
until evening, and inquired of the Lord,
saying, “Shall we again draw near for battle against the sons of my brother
Benjamin?” And
the Lord said, “Go[D5] up against him.”
24 Then the sons of Israel [l]came against
the sons of Benjamin the second day. 25 Benjamin went out [m]against them
from Gibeah the second day and [n]felled to the ground again[D6] 18,000 men of the sons of Israel; all these drew the sword.
26 Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and
came to Bethel and wept; thus
they remained there before the Lord
and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and
peace offerings before the Lord. 27 The
sons of Israel 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 cease?” And the
Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will
deliver them into your hand[D7] .”
29 So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. 30 The
sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and
arrayed themselves against Gibeah as at other times. 31 The
sons of Benjamin went out [o]against the
people and were drawn away from the city, and they began to strike [p]and kill
some of the people as at other times, on the highways, one of which goes up to
Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the field, about thirty men of
Israel. 32 The sons of Benjamin said, “They are struck down
before us, as at the first.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee that we
may draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 Then all
the men of Israel arose from their place and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar; and the men of Israel in ambush broke out of their
place, even out of Maareh-geba. 34 When
ten thousand choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle became [q]fierce; but [r]Benjamin did not know
that [s]disaster was [t]close to them. 35 And the Lord struck Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of
Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day, all [u]who draw the
sword.
36 So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were [v]defeated.
When the men of Israel gave [w]ground to
Benjamin because
they relied on the men in ambush[D8] [D9] whom they
had set against Gibeah, 37 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 appointed sign between the
men of Israel and the men in ambush was 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 [x]and kill
about thirty men of Israel, for they said, “Surely they are [y]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 behind them; and
behold, the whole 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 [z]disaster was
[aa]close to
them. 42 Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of
Israel toward the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them
while those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of them. 43 They
surrounded Benjamin, pursued them without rest and trod them down
opposite Gibeah toward the [ab]east. 44 Thus
18,000 men of Benjamin fell; all these were valiant warriors. 45 [ac]The rest
turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon,
but they [ad]caught 5,000
of them on the highways and overtook them [ae]at Gidom and [af]killed 2,000 of them. 46 So
all of Benjamin who fell that day were 25,000 men who draw the sword; all these
were valiant warriors. 47 But 600 men turned and fled toward
the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they
remained at the rock of Rimmon 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.