Judges 20:34-42 ▼

34 Then 10,000 choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle became heavy; but Benjamin did not know that calamity was about to reach them.

35 Then Yahweh defeated Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day, all who drew the sword.

36 So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. Now the men of Israel had given ground to Benjamin because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah.

37 So the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah. Then the men in ambush deployed and struck all the city with the edge of the sword.

38 Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city.

39 So the men of Israel had turned around in the battle, and Benjamin had begun to strike and slay about thirty men of Israel, for they said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.”

40 But the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned behind them; and behold, the whole city was going up in smoke to heaven.

41 Then the men of Israel turned around again, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed; for they saw that calamity had reached them.

42 Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel toward the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of them.