| New Living Translation | NET 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 left their homes and assembled together 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 from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God's people, which numbered four hundred thousand sword-wielding 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. Then the Israelites said, "Explain how this wicked thing happened!" |
| 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, spoke up, "I and my concubine stopped in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin 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. | 5The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that 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. | 6I grabbed hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces throughout the territory occupied by Israel, because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity in Israel. |
| 7Now then, all of you—the entire community of Israel—must decide here and now what should be done about this!” | 7All you Israelites, make a decision here!" |
| 8And all the people rose to their feet in unison and declared, “None of us will return home! No, not even one of us! | 8All Israel rose up in unison and said, "Not one of us will go home! Not one of us will 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 attack the city as the lot dictates. |
| 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 ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army. When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel." |
| 11So all the Israelites were completely united, and they gathered together to attack the town. | 11So all the men of Israel gathered together at the city as allies. |
| 12The Israelites sent messengers to the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What a terrible thing has been done among you! | 12The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "How could such a wicked thing take place? |
| 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. | 13Now, hand over the good-for-nothings in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness." But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers. |
| 14Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah to fight the Israelites. | 14The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war 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. | 15That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers, besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from 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. | 16Among this army were seven hundred specially-trained left-handed soldiers. Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target. |
| 17Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin’s warriors. | 17The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, 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.” | 18The Israelites went up to Bethel and asked God, "Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?" The LORD said, "Judah should lead." |
| 19So the Israelites left early the next morning and camped near Gibeah. | 19The Israelites got up the next morning and moved against Gibeah. |
| 20Then they advanced toward Gibeah to attack the men of Benjamin. | 20The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they arranged their battle lines 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 attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day. |
| 22But the Israelites encouraged each other and took their positions again at the same place they had fought the previous day. | 22The Israelite army took heart and once more arranged their battle lines, in the same place where they had taken their positions the day before. |
| 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.” | 23The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening. They asked the LORD, "Should we again march out to fight the Benjaminites, our brothers?" The LORD said, "Attack them!" |
| 24So the next day they went out again to fight against the men of Benjamin, | 24So the Israelites marched toward the Benjaminites the next day. |
| 25but the men of Benjamin killed another 18,000 Israelites, all of whom were experienced with the sword. | 25The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers. |
| 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. | 26So all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They wept and sat there before the LORD; they did not eat anything that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace 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, | 27The Israelites asked the LORD (for the ark of God's covenant was there in those days; |
| 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.” | 28Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the LORD in those days), "Should we once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers, or should we quit?" The LORD said, "Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you." |
| 29So the Israelites set an ambush all around Gibeah. | 29So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah. |
| 30They went out on the third day and took their positions at the same place as before. | 30The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day; they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done 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. | 31The Benjaminites attacked the army, leaving the city unguarded. They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down about thirty Israelites. |
| 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. | 32Then the Benjaminites said, "They are defeated just as before." But the Israelites said, "Let's retreat and lure them away from the city into the main roads." |
| 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. | 33All the men of Israel got up from their places and took their positions at Baal Tamar, while the Israelites hiding in ambush jumped out of their places west of Gibeah. |
| 34There were 10,000 elite Israelite troops who advanced against Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that Benjamin didn’t realize the impending disaster. | 34Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah--the battle was fierce. But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep. |
| 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 annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites. |
| 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 saw they were defeated. The Israelites retreated before Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah. |
| 37Then those who were hiding rushed in from all sides and killed everyone in the town. | 37The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city. |
| 38They had arranged to send up a large cloud of smoke from the town as a signal. | 38The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal. When the men hiding in ambush sent up a smoke signal 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 Israelites counterattacked. Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; they struck down about thirty men. They said, "There's no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier 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 signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky. |
| 41the men of Israel turned and attacked. At this point the men of Benjamin became terrified, because they realized disaster was close at hand. | 41When the Israelites turned around, the Benjaminites panicked because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep. |
| 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 Israelites, taking the road to the wilderness. But the battle overtook them as men from the surrounding cities struck them down. |
| 43The Israelites surrounded the men of Benjamin and chased them relentlessly, finally overtaking them east of Gibeah. | 43They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, and annihilated them all the way to a spot east of Geba. |
| 44That day 18,000 of Benjamin’s strongest warriors died in battle. | 44Eighteen thousand Benjaminites, all of them capable warriors, fell dead. |
| 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. | 45The rest turned and ran toward the wilderness, heading toward the cliff of Rimmon. But the Israelites caught five thousand of them on the main roads. They stayed right on their heels all the way to Gidom and struck down two thousand more. |
| 46So that day the tribe of Benjamin lost 25,000 strong warriors armed with swords, | 46That day twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors. |
| 47leaving only 600 men who escaped to the rock of Rimmon, where they lived for four months. | 47Six hundred survivors turned and ran away to the wilderness, to the cliff of Rimmon. They 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 Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path. |
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