Judges 20
20Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah.H1121H3478H3318H5712H6950H259H376H1835H884H776H1568H3068H47092The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords.H6438H5971H7626H3478H3320H6951H5971H430H702H3967H505H376H7273H8025H27193(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, "Tell us how this awful thing happened."H1121H1144H8085H1121H3478H5927H4709H559H1121H3478H1696H1961H74514So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, "I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.H3881H376H376H802H7523H6030H559H935H1390H1144H6370H38855During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died.H1167H1390H6965H5437H1004H5437H3915H1819H2026H6370H6031H41916I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel's inheritance, because they committed this lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.H270H6370H5408H7971H7704H5159H3478H6213H2154H5039H34787Now, all you Israelites, speak up and give your verdict."H1121H3478H3051H1988H1697H60988All the people rose as one man, saying, "None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house.H5971H6965H259H376H559H376H3212H168H376H5493H10049But now this is what we'll do to Gibeah: We'll go up against it as the lot directs.H1697H6213H1390H148610We'll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for all this vileness done in Israel."H3947H6235H582H3967H7626H3478H3967H505H505H7233H3947H6720H5971H6213H935H1387H1144H5039H6213H347811So all the men of Israel got together and united as one man against the city.H376H3478H622H5892H2270H259H37612The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you?H7626H3478H7971H582H7626H1144H559H7451H196113Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel." But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.H5414H582H1121H1100H1390H4191H1197H7451H3478H1121H1144H14H8085H6963H251H1121H347814From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites.H1121H1144H622H5892H1390H3318H4421H1121H347815At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in Gibeah.H1121H1144H6485H3117H5892H6242H8337H505H376H8025H2719H3427H1390H6485H7651H3967H977H37616Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.H5971H7651H3967H977H376H334H3027H3225H7049H68H8185H239817Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fighting men.H376H3478H1144H6485H702H3967H505H376H8025H2719H376H442118The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, "Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?" The LORD replied, "Judah shall go first."H1121H3478H6965H5927H1004H430H1008H7592H430H559H4310H5927H8462H4421H1121H1144H3068H559H3063H846219The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah.H1121H3478H6965H1242H2583H139020The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah.H376H3478H3318H4421H1144H376H3478H6186H4421H139021The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day.H1121H1144H3318H1390H7843H776H3478H3117H6242H8147H505H37622But the men of Israel encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day.H5971H376H3478H2388H4421H3254H6186H4725H6186H7223H311723The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, "Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers?" The LORD answered, "Go up against them."H1121H3478H5927H1058H6440H3068H6153H7592H3068H559H5066H3254H4421H1121H1144H251H3068H559H592724Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day.H1121H3478H7126H1121H1144H8145H311725This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.H1144H3318H7125H1390H8145H3117H7843H776H1121H3478H8083H6240H505H376H8025H271926Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD.H1121H3478H5971H5927H935H1004H430H1008H1058H3427H6440H3068H6684H3117H6153H5927H5930H8002H6440H306827And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there,H1121H3478H7592H3068H727H1285H430H311728with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, "Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?" The LORD responded, "Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands."H6372H1121H499H1121H175H5975H6440H3117H559H3254H3318H4421H1121H1144H251H2308H3068H559H5927H4279H5414H302729Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah.H3478H7760H693H5439H139030They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before.H1121H3478H5927H1121H1144H7992H3117H6186H1390H647131The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads--the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.H1121H1144H3318H7125H5971H5423H5892H2490H5221H5971H2491H6471H4546H259H5927H1004H430H1008H259H1390H7704H7970H376H347832While the Benjamites were saying, "We are defeating them as before," the Israelites were saying, "Let's retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads."H1121H1144H559H5062H6440H7223H1121H3478H559H5127H5423H5892H454633All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west of Gibeah.H376H3478H6965H4725H6186H1193H693H3478H1518H4725H4629H138734Then ten thousand of Israel's finest men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was.H935H5048H1390H6235H505H977H376H3478H4421H3513H3045H7451H506035The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.H3068H5062H1144H6440H3478H1121H3478H7843H1145H3117H6242H2568H505H3967H376H8025H271936Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten. Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah.H1121H1144H7200H5062H376H3478H5414H4725H1145H982H693H7760H139037The men who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword.H693H2363H6584H1390H693H4900H5221H5892H6310H271938The men of Israel had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city,H4150H376H3478H5973H693H7235H4864H6227H5927H589239and then the men of Israel would turn in the battle. The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the men of Israel (about thirty), and they said, "We are defeating them as in the first battle."H376H3478H2015H4421H1144H2490H5221H2491H376H3478H7970H376H559H5062H5062H6440H7223H442140But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the smoke of the whole city going up into the sky.H4864H2490H5927H5892H5982H6227H1145H6437H310H3632H5892H5927H806441Then the men of Israel turned on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come upon them.H376H3478H2015H376H1144H926H7200H7451H506042So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but they could not escape the battle. And the men of Israel who came out of the towns cut them down there.H6437H6440H376H3478H1870H4057H4421H1692H5892H7843H843243They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east.H3803H1145H3803H7291H1869H4496H5227H1390H4217H812144Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters.H5307H1144H8083H6240H505H376H582H242845As they turned and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.H6437H5127H4057H5553H7417H5953H4546H2568H505H376H1692H310H1440H5221H505H37646On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters.H5307H3117H1144H6242H2568H505H376H8025H2719H582H242847But six hundred men turned and fled into the desert to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months.H8337H3967H376H6437H5127H4057H5553H7417H3427H5553H7417H702H232048The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.H376H3478H7725H1121H1144H5221H6310H2719H4974H5892H5704H929H4672H7971H784H5892H4672
Columbus, OH
