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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.
Israel’s War with the Benjamites
So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the Lord at Mizpah.
So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the Lord 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 leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the 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.
(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.)
Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?”
Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?”
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.
So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night.
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 men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine 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.
So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel.
Now then, all of you — the entire community of Israel — must decide here and now what should be done about this!”
Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!”
And all the people rose to their feet in unison and declared, “None of us will return home! No, not even one of us!
So all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to 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 will go up against it by lot.
We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel.”
So all the Israelites were completely united, and they gathered together to attack the town.
So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.
The Israelites sent messengers to the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What a terrible thing has been done among you!
Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred 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.
Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah to fight the Israelites.
Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go 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 from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select 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 were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss.
Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin’s warriors.
Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of 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.”
So the Israelites left early the next morning and camped near Gibeah.
So the children of Israel rose 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 battle 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.
Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites.
But the Israelites encouraged each other and took their positions again at the same place they had fought the previous day.
And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on 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.”
Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, “Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?”
And the Lord said, “Go up against him.”
And the Lord said, “Go up against him.”
So the next day they went out again to fight against the men of Benjamin,
So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day.
but the men of Benjamin killed another 18,000 Israelites, all of whom were experienced with the sword.
And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; 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.
The Israelites went up seeking direction from the LORD. (In those days the Ark of the Covenant of God was in Bethel,
So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord (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 my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?”
And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”
And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”
So the Israelites set an ambush all around Gibeah.
Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah.
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 battle 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.
So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and 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 defeated before us, as at first.”
But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.”
But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.”
So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain 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.
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.
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.
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah.
Then those who were hiding rushed in from all sides and killed everyone in the town.
And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush spread out and struck 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 the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from 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!”
But when the warriors of Benjamin looked behind them and saw the smoke rising into the sky from every part of the town,
But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven.
the men of Israel turned and attacked. At this point the men of Benjamin became terrified, because they realized disaster was close at hand.
And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them.
They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east.
That day 18,000 of Benjamin’s strongest warriors died in battle.
And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor.
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.
So that day the tribe of Benjamin lost 25,000 strong warriors armed with swords,
leaving only 600 men who escaped to the rock of Rimmon, where they lived for four months.
But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for 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 back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword — from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to.