Judges 20

1Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah at Mizpah.

1Then all the Israelites from one end of the country to the other—from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the land of Gilead—came out together as one group and gathered before the LORD at Mizpah.

2And the chiefs 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.

2The leaders of all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, which included 400,000 soldiers armed with swords.

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

3(The people of Benjamin heard that the other Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) The Israelites said, 'Tell us, how did this terrible crime happen?'

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

4So the Levite, whose wife had been murdered, answered, 'I went to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night.

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

5During the night, the men of Gibeah surrounded the house to attack me. They intended to kill me, but instead they raped my concubine, and she died.

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.

6I took her body, cut it into pieces, and sent them throughout all the territories of Israel, because these people committed a shameful and disgraceful act in our nation.

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

7Now, all you Israelites, speak up and give your advice on what we should do.'

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 unto his house.

8All the people stood up as one man and said, 'None of us will go home or return to our own houses.

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

9Instead, this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by drawing lots.

10and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victuals 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.

10We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, a hundred from every thousand, and a thousand from every ten thousand to find food for the army. Then, when the army reaches Gibeah in Benjamin, they can punish them for the disgraceful thing they have done in Israel.'

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

11So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one person.

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

12The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the whole tribe of Benjamin, saying, 'What is this wicked thing that has happened among you?

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

13Hand over those wicked men in Gibeah so we can put them to death and remove this evil from Israel.' But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their fellow Israelites.

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

14Instead, the Benjaminites left their towns and gathered at Gibeah to go to war against the rest of Israel.

15And the children of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

15That day the Benjaminites mobilized 26,000 soldiers armed with swords from their towns, plus 700 elite soldiers from Gibeah.

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

16Among all these troops were 700 elite left-handed soldiers. Each of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

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

17The Israelites, not counting Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords.

18And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up first.

18The Israelites went up to Bethel and asked God, 'Which of us should be the first to go to war against the Benjaminites?' The LORD answered, 'Judah will go first.'

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

19The next morning the Israelites got up and set up camp near Gibeah.

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

20The men of Israel went out to fight Benjamin and took their battle positions at Gibeah.

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

21The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.

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

22But the Israelites encouraged each other and took their battle positions again in the same place they had the first day.

23And the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even; and they asked of Jehovah, saying, Shall I again draw nigh to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up against him.

23The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening. They asked the LORD, 'Should we go out again to fight our brother Benjamin?' The LORD answered, 'Go up against them.'

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

24So the Israelites approached the Benjaminites on 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.

25This second day, the Benjaminites came out from Gibeah and killed another 18,000 Israelites, all of whom were armed with swords.

26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.

26Then all the Israelites went up to Bethel. They sat there weeping before the LORD and fasted until evening. They also offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.

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

27The Israelites asked the LORD what to do. (The Ark of the Covenant of God was there at that time,

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 Jehovah said, Go up; for to-morrow I will deliver him into thy hand.

28and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was the priest ministering before it.) They asked, 'Should we go out again to fight our brother Benjamin, or should we stop?' The LORD responded, 'Go, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.'

29And Israel set liers-in-wait against Gibeah round about.

29Then Israel set up an ambush all around Gibeah.

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

30The Israelites went up against the Benjaminites on the third day and took their positions against Gibeah as they had before.

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

31The Benjaminites came out to meet them and were led away from the city. They began to kill some of the Israelites as they had done before. About thirty Israelites were killed in the open fields and on the roads, one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

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 away from the city unto the highways.

32The Benjaminites said, 'We are defeating them just like before!' But the Israelites said, 'Let’s retreat and lure them away from the city onto the main roads.'

33And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers-in-wait of Israel brake forth out of their place, even out of Maareh-geba.

33The main body of the Israelite army moved from their positions and regrouped at Baal-tamar, while the Israelites in ambush rushed out from their positions west of Gibeah.

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

34Then 10,000 of Israel’s best soldiers attacked Gibeah. The fighting was fierce, but the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was right on top of them.

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

35The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel. That day the Israelites killed 25,100 Benjaminites, all armed with swords.

36So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten; for the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted unto the liers-in-wait whom they had set against Gibeah.

36Then the Benjaminites realized they were defeated. The men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin because they were relying on the ambush they had set near 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.

37The men in ambush rushed into Gibeah; they spread out and killed everyone in the city with their swords.

38Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers-in-wait was, that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.

38The men of Israel and the ambush team had agreed on a signal: the men in ambush would send up a huge cloud of smoke from the city.

39And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and 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.

39Then the Israelites would turn around in the battle. The Benjaminites had already killed about thirty Israelites and were saying, 'We are defeating them completely, just like in the first battle.'

40But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and, behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven.

40But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjaminites looked back and saw the whole city going up in flames.

41And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed; for they saw that evil was come upon them.

41Then the men of Israel turned back, and the Benjaminites were terrified because they saw that disaster had fallen on them.

42Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle followed hard after them; and they that came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst thereof.

42They turned and fled from the Israelites toward the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. The Israelites coming out of the towns caught and killed them.

43They inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trod them down at their resting-place, as far as over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.

43They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them, and easily overtook them in the area east of Gibeah.

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

44Eighteen thousand brave Benjaminite soldiers fell in battle.

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 followed hard after them unto Gidom, and smote of them two thousand men.

45The rest turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, but the Israelites killed 5,000 of them along the roads. They kept chasing them as far as Gidom and killed another 2,000 men.

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

46A total of 25,000 Benjaminite soldiers fell that day, all of them brave warriors.

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

47But six hundred men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed for four months.

48And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city, and the cattle, and all that they found: moreover all the cities which they found they set on fire.

48The men of Israel went back to the land of Benjamin and killed everyone they found—the people in the towns, the livestock, and everything else. They also burned down every town they came to.