Judges
Judges 20 ©
1 The children of Israel assemble at Mizpeh, before whom the Levite declareth his wrong. 8 The resolution of the assembly to punish the Gibeathites. 12 The Benjamites, being required to deliver up the offenders, instead of complying gather themselves together against the other tribes. 18 By the direction of God Judah goeth up first against them; but the Israelites are repulsed with great loss. 22 They renew the fight the second day, and are again defeated with a great slaughter. 26 They seek to God with fasting and sacrifices, and are promised success. 29 They make use of a stratagem, and destroy all the Benjamites, with all that belonged to them, except six hundred men, who flee to the rock Rimmon.
THEN aall the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, bfrom Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, cunto the LORD in Mizpeh.
And 1the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, gI came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
And hthe men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they 2forced, that she is dead.
But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up mby lot against it;
And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual 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.
So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as 3one man.
Now therefore odeliver us the men, the pchildren of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and qput away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not rhearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:
But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
¶And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the vhouse of God, and wasked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, xJudah shall go up first.
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.
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
And gPhinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, hShall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, iGo up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
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 other times.
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and kwere drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and 4kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to 5the house of God, and the other to lGibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
And all the men of Israel orose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for sthe men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.
tAnd the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait 6drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.
But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, 11the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.
Thus ythey *inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down 13with ease 14over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour.
And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of zRimmon: and they agleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
And the men of Israel dturned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that 15came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that 16they came to.