New Living Translation

Holman Christian Standard Bible

1Then 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.

1All the Israelites from Dan to Beer-sheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the community assembled as one body before the LORD at Mizpah.

2The 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.

2The leaders of all the people and of all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God's people: 400,000 armed foot soldiers.

3(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.

3The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites asked, "Tell us, how did this outrage occur?"

4The 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.

4The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: "I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night.

5That night some of the leading citizens of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead.

5Citizens of Gibeah ganged up on me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, but they raped my concubine, and she died.

6So 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.

6Then I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout Israel's territory, because they committed a horrible shame in Israel.

7Now then, all of you—the entire community of Israel—must decide here and now what should be done about this!”

7Look, all of you are Israelites. Give your judgment and verdict here and now."

8And all the people rose to their feet in unison and declared, “None of us will return home! No, not even one of us!

8Then all the people stood united and said, "None of us will go to his tent or return to his house.

9Instead, this is what we will do to Gibeah; we will draw lots to decide who will attack it.

9Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go against it by lot.

10One-tenth of the men from each tribe will be chosen to supply the warriors with food, and the rest of us will take revenge on Gibeah of Benjamin for this shameful thing they have done in Israel.”

10We will take 10 men out of every 100 from all the tribes of Israel, and 100 out of every 1,000, and 1,000 out of every 10,000 to get provisions for the people when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for all the horror they did in Israel."

11So all the Israelites were completely united, and they gathered together to attack the town.

11So all the men of Israel gathered united against the city.

12The Israelites sent messengers to the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What a terrible thing has been done among you!

12Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What is this outrage that has occurred among you?

13Give 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.

13Hand over the perverted men in Gibeah so we can put them to death and eradicate evil from Israel." But the Benjaminites would not obey their fellow Israelites.

14Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah to fight the Israelites.

14Instead, the Benjaminites gathered together from their cities to Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites.

15In all, 26,000 of their warriors armed with swords arrived in Gibeah to join the 700 elite troops who lived there.

15On that day the Benjaminites rallied 26,000 armed men from their cities, besides 700 choice men rallied by the inhabitants of Gibeah.

16Among 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.

16There were 700 choice men who were left-handed among all these people; all could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

17Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin’s warriors.

17The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, rallied 400,000 armed men, every one an experienced warrior.

18Before 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.”

18They set out, went to Bethel, and inquired of God. The Israelites asked, "Who is to go first to fight for us against the Benjaminites?" And the LORD answered, "Judah will be first."

19So the Israelites left early the next morning and camped near Gibeah.

19In the morning, the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah.

20Then they advanced toward Gibeah to attack the men of Benjamin.

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

21But Benjamin’s warriors, who were defending the town, came out and killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.

21The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and slaughtered 22,000 men of Israel on the field that day.

22But the Israelites encouraged each other and took their positions again at the same place they had fought the previous day.

22But the Israelite army rallied and again took their battle positions in the same place where they positioned themselves on the first day.

23For 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.”

23They went up, wept before the LORD until evening, and inquired of Him: "Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites?" And the LORD answered: "Fight against them."

24So the next day they went out again to fight against the men of Benjamin,

24On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites.

25but the men of Benjamin killed another 18,000 Israelites, all of whom were experienced with the sword.

25That same day the Benjaminites came out from Gibeah to meet them and slaughtered an additional 18,000 Israelites on the field; all were armed men.

26Then 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.

26The whole Israelite army went to Bethel where they wept and sat before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD.

27The Israelites went up seeking direction from the LORD. (In those days the Ark of the Covenant of God was in Bethel,

27Then the Israelites inquired of the LORD. In those days, the ark of the covenant of God was there,

28and 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.”

28and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving before it. The Israelites asked: "Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites or should we stop?" The LORD answered: "Fight, because I will hand them over to you tomorrow."

29So the Israelites set an ambush all around Gibeah.

29So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah.

30They went out on the third day and took their positions at the same place as before.

30On the third day the Israelites fought against the Benjaminites and took their battle positions against Gibeah as before.

31When 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.

31Then the Benjaminites came out against the people and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about 30 men of Israel on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah through the open country.

32Then 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.

32The Benjaminites said, "We are defeating them as before." But the Israelites said, "Let's flee and draw them away from the city to the highways."

33When the main group of Israelite warriors reached Baal-tamar, they turned and took up their positions. Meanwhile, the Israelites hiding in ambush to the west of Gibeah jumped up to fight.

33So all the men of Israel got up from their places and took their battle positions at Baal-tamar, while the Israelites in ambush charged out of their places west of Geba.

34There were 10,000 elite Israelite troops who advanced against Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that Benjamin didn’t realize the impending disaster.

34Then 10,000 choice men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was about to strike them.

35So the LORD helped Israel defeat Benjamin, and that day the Israelites killed 25,100 of Benjamin’s warriors, all of whom were experienced swordsmen.

35The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 men of Benjamin; all were armed men.

36Then 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.

36Then the Benjaminites realized they had been defeated. The men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin, because they were confident in the ambush they had set against Gibeah.

37Then those who were hiding rushed in from all sides and killed everyone in the town.

37The men in ambush had rushed quickly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword.

38They had arranged to send up a large cloud of smoke from the town as a signal.

38The men of Israel had a prearranged signal with the men in ambush: when they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city,

39When 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!”

39the men of Israel would return to the battle. When Benjamin had begun to strike them down, killing about 30 men of Israel, they said, "They're defeated before us, just as they were in the first battle."

40But when the warriors of Benjamin looked behind them and saw the smoke rising into the sky from every part of the town,

40But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, Benjamin looked behind them, and the whole city was going up in smoke.

41the men of Israel turned and attacked. At this point the men of Benjamin became terrified, because they realized disaster was close at hand.

41Then the men of Israel returned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had struck them.

42So they turned around and fled before the Israelites toward the wilderness. But they couldn’t escape the battle, and the people who came out of the nearby towns were also killed.

42They retreated before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities slaughtered those between them.

43The Israelites surrounded the men of Benjamin and chased them relentlessly, finally overtaking them east of Gibeah.

43They surrounded the Benjaminites, pursued them, and easily overtook them near Gibeah toward the east.

44That day 18,000 of Benjamin’s strongest warriors died in battle.

44There were 18,000 men who died from Benjamin; all were warriors.

45The 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.

45Then Benjamin turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel killed 5,000 men on the highways. They overtook them at Gidom and struck 2,000 more dead.

46So that day the tribe of Benjamin lost 25,000 strong warriors armed with swords,

46All the Benjaminites who died that day were 25,000 armed men; all were warriors.

47leaving only 600 men who escaped to the rock of Rimmon, where they lived for four months.

47But 600 men escaped into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and stayed there four months.

48And 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.

48The men of Israel turned back against the other Benjaminites and killed them with their swords--the entire city, the animals, and everything that remained. They also burned down all the cities that remained.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.