Welcome to our website where we explore the Bible! Pleasure to meet you here!
May your journey into the world of the Holy Scriptures be engaging and inspiring!
You can change reading language: uk ru
Parallel
New Living Translation
Darby Bible Translation
Israel’s War with Benjamin
Then all the Israelites were united as one man, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, including those from across the Jordan in the land of Gilead. The entire community assembled in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.
Then all the Israelites were united as one man, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, including those from across the Jordan in the land of Gilead. The entire community assembled in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.
The Decree of the Assembly
And all the children of Israel went forth, and the assembly gathered together as one man, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah at Mizpah.
And all the children of Israel went forth, and the assembly gathered together as one man, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah at Mizpah.
The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel — 400,000 warriors armed with swords — took their positions in the assembly of the people of God.
And the heads of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the congregation of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.
(Word soon reached the land of Benjamin that the other tribes had gone up to Mizpah.) The Israelites then asked how this terrible crime had happened.
And the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. And the children of Israel said, Tell [us], how was this wickedness?
The Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, said, “My concubine and I came to spend the night in Gibeah, a town that belongs to the people of Benjamin.
Then the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said, I came to Gibeah that [belongs] to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
That night some of the leading citizens of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead.
And the citizens of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house because of me, by night; they thought to slay me, and my concubine have they humbled so that she died.
So I cut her body into twelve pieces and sent the pieces throughout the territory assigned to Israel, for these men have committed a terrible and shameful crime.
Then I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed lewdness and villany in Israel.
Now then, all of you — the entire community of Israel — must decide here and now what should be done about this!”
Behold, all ye, children of Israel, deliberate and give here [your] counsel.
And all the people rose to their feet in unison and declared, “None of us will return home! No, not even one of us!
And all the people rose up as one man, saying, We will not any one go to his tent, neither will we any one turn into his house.
Instead, this is what we will do to Gibeah; we will draw lots to decide who will attack it.
But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: [we go] by lot against it;
and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to fetch victuals for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the villany that they have wrought in Israel.
So all the Israelites were completely united, and they gathered together to attack the town.
And all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.
The Israelites sent messengers to the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What a terrible thing has been done among you!
And the tribes of Israel sent men to all the families of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that has been done among you?
Give up those evil men, those troublemakers from Gibeah, so we can execute them and purge Israel of this evil.”
But the people of Benjamin would not listen.
But the people of Benjamin would not listen.
And now give up the men, the sons of Belial, who 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.
Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah to fight the Israelites.
And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities of Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
In all, 26,000 of their warriors armed with swords arrived in Gibeah to join the 700 elite troops who lived there.
And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities, twenty-six thousand men that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
Among Benjamin’s elite troops, 700 were left-handed, and each of them could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth without missing.
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; all these slang stones at a hair [breadth], and missed not.
Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin’s warriors.
And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
Before the battle the Israelites went to Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should go first to attack the people of Benjamin?”
The LORD answered, “Judah is to go first.”
The LORD answered, “Judah is to go first.”
Civil War against Benjamin
And the children of Israel arose and went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah first.
And the children of Israel arose and went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah first.
So the Israelites left early the next morning and camped near Gibeah.
And the children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
Then they advanced toward Gibeah to attack the men of Benjamin.
And 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.
But Benjamin’s warriors, who were defending the town, came out and killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.
And the children of Benjamin went forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty-two thousand men.
But the Israelites encouraged each other and took their positions again at the same place they had fought the previous day.
And the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and set the battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.
For they had gone up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the LORD until evening. They had asked the LORD, “Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again?”
And the LORD had said, “Go out and fight against them.”
And the LORD had said, “Go out and fight against them.”
And the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even, and inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up against him.
So the next day they went out again to fight against the men of Benjamin,
Defeat of the Benjamites
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
but the men of Benjamin killed another 18,000 Israelites, all of whom were experienced with the sword.
And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and again destroyed to the ground of the children of Israel eighteen thousand men: all these drew the sword.
Then all the Israelites went up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the LORD and fasted until evening. They also brought burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up and came to Bethel, and wept, and abode there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even, and offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
The Israelites went up seeking direction from the LORD. (In those days the Ark of the Covenant of God was in Bethel,
And the children of Israel inquired of Jehovah (and the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
and Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron was the priest.) The Israelites asked the LORD, “Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again, or should we stop?”
The LORD said, “Go! Tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”
The LORD said, “Go! Tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”
and 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 Jehovah said, Go up; for to-morrow I will give them into thy hand.
So the Israelites set an ambush all around Gibeah.
And Israel set liers in wait against Gibeah, round about.
They went out on the third day and took their positions at the same place as before.
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at the other times.
When the men of Benjamin came out to attack, they were drawn away from the town. And as they had done before, they began to kill the Israelites. About thirty Israelites died in the open fields and along the roads, one leading to Bethel and the other leading back to Gibeah.
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city, and began to smite of the people, slaying as at the former times, in the highways, of which one leads to Bethel and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
Then the warriors of Benjamin shouted, “We’re defeating them as we did before!” But the Israelites had planned in advance to run away so that the men of Benjamin would chase them along the roads and be drawn away from the town.
And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. And the children of Israel said, Let us flee, that we may draw them from the city to the highways.
And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-Tamar; and the ambush of Israel rushed forth out of their place, out of the meadows of Geba.
There were 10,000 elite Israelite troops who advanced against Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that Benjamin didn’t realize the impending disaster.
And there came from opposite Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was severe; but they knew not that disaster was coming upon them.
So the LORD helped Israel defeat Benjamin, and that day the Israelites killed 25,100 of Benjamin’s warriors, all of whom were experienced swordsmen.
And Jehovah smote Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjaminites that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men: all these drew the sword.
Then the men of Benjamin saw that they were beaten.
The Israelites had retreated from Benjamin’s warriors in order to give those hiding in ambush more room to maneuver against Gibeah.
The Israelites had retreated from Benjamin’s warriors in order to give those hiding in ambush more room to maneuver against Gibeah.
And the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten. -- And the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted to the ambush that they had set against Gibeah.
Then those who were hiding rushed in from all sides and killed everyone in the town.
And the ambush hasted, and fell upon Gibeah; and the ambush drew along, and smote the whole city with the edge of the sword.
They had arranged to send up a large cloud of smoke from the town as a signal.
Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the ambush, that they should make a thick column of smoke rise up out of the city.
When the Israelites saw the smoke, they turned and attacked Benjamin’s warriors.
By that time Benjamin’s warriors had killed about thirty Israelites, and they shouted, “We’re defeating them as we did in the first battle!”
By that time Benjamin’s warriors had killed about thirty Israelites, and they shouted, “We’re defeating them as we did in the first battle!”
And when the men of Israel turned back in the battle, Benjamin began to smite, slaying of the men of Israel about thirty men; for they said, Surely they are quite routed before us as in the first battle.
But when the warriors of Benjamin looked behind them and saw the smoke rising into the sky from every part of the town,
And when the burning began to rise up out of the city as a pillar of smoke, Benjamin looked behind, and behold, the whole city ascended [in smoke] to the heavens.
the men of Israel turned and attacked. At this point the men of Benjamin became terrified, because they realized disaster was close at hand.
Then the men of Israel turned back, and the men of Benjamin were amazed, for they saw that disaster was come upon them.
And they turned before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in their midst.
They encompassed the Benjaminites, chased them, trode them down at the resting-place over against Gibeah toward the sun-rising.
That day 18,000 of Benjamin’s strongest warriors died in battle.
And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men: all these, men of valour.
The survivors fled into the wilderness toward the rock of Rimmon, but Israel killed 5,000 of them along the road. They continued the chase until they had killed another 2,000 near Gidom.
And they turned and fled towards the wilderness to the cliff of Rimmon, and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them to Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
So that day the tribe of Benjamin lost 25,000 strong warriors armed with swords,
So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men that drew the sword: all these, men of valour.
leaving only 600 men who escaped to the rock of Rimmon, where they lived for four months.
And six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness to the cliff of Rimmon, and abode at the cliff of Rimmon four months.
And the Israelites returned and slaughtered every living thing in all the towns — the people, the livestock, and everything they found. They also burned down all the towns they came to.
And 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 cattle, and all that was found; even all the cities that were found did they set on fire.