Israel Gets Ready for War
1-3 The Israelites called a meeting of the nation. And since they were God's people, the meeting was held at the place of worship in Mizpah. Men who could serve as soldiers came from everywhere in Israel—from Dan in the north, Beersheba in the south, and Gilead east of the Jordan River. Four hundred thousand of them came to Mizpah, and they each felt the same about what those men from the tribe of Benjamin had done.
News about the meeting at Mizpah reached the tribe of Benjamin.
As soon as the leaders of the tribes of Israel took their places, the Israelites said, “How could such a horrible thing happen?”
4 The husband of the murdered woman answered:
My wife and I went into the town of Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5 Later that night, the men of Gibeah surrounded the house. They wanted to kill me, but instead they raped and killed my wife. 6 It was a terrible thing for Israelites to do! So I cut up her body and sent the pieces everywhere in Israel.
7 You are the people of Israel, and you must decide today what to do about the men of Gibeah.
8 The whole army was in agreement, and they said, “None of us will go home. 9-10 We'll send one tenth of the men from each tribe to get food for the army. And we'll ask God who should attack Gibeah, because those men deserve to be punished for committing such a horrible crime in Israel.”
11 Everyone agreed that Gibeah had to be punished.
12 The tribes of Israel sent messengers to every town and village in Benjamin. And wherever the messengers went, they said, “How could those worthless men in Gibeah do such a disgusting thing? 13 We can't allow such a terrible crime to go unpunished in Israel! Hand the men over to us, and we will put them to death.”
But the people of Benjamin refused to listen to the other Israelites. 14 Men from towns all over Benjamin's territory went to Gibeah and got ready to fight Israel. 15 The Benjamin tribe had 26,000 soldiers, not counting the 700 who were Gibeah's best warriors. 16 In this army there were 700 left-handed experts who could sling a rock at a target the size of a hair and hit it every time.
17 The other Israelite tribes organized their army and found they had 400,000 experienced soldiers. 18 So they went to the place of worship at Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should be the first to attack the people of Benjamin?”
“Judah,” the Lord answered.
19 The next morning the Israelite army moved its camp to a place near Gibeah. 20 Then they left their camp and got into position to attack the army of Benjamin.
The War Between Israel and Benjamin
21 Benjamin's soldiers came out of Gibeah and attacked, and when the day was over, 22,000 Israelite soldiers lay dead on the ground.
22-24 The people of Israel went to the place of worship and cried until sunset. Then they asked the Lord, “Should we attack the people of Benjamin again, even though they are our relatives?”
“Yes,” the Lord replied, “attack them again!”
The Israelite soldiers encouraged each other to be brave and to fight hard. Then the next day they went back to Gibeah and took up the same positions as they had before.
25 That same day, Benjamin's soldiers came out of Gibeah and attacked, leaving another 18,000 Israelite soldiers dead on the battlefield.
26-28 The people of Israel went to the place of worship at Bethel, where the sacred chest was being kept. They sat on the ground, crying and not eating for the rest of the day. Then about sunset, they offered sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask his blessing. Phinehas the priest then prayed, “Our Lord, the people of Benjamin are our relatives. Should we stop fighting or attack them again?”
“Attack!” the Lord answered. “Tomorrow I will let you defeat them.”
29 The Israelites surrounded Gibeah, but stayed where they could not be seen. 30 Then the next day, they took the same positions as twice before, 31-41 but this time they had a different plan. They said, “When the men of Benjamin attack, we will run off and let them chase us away from the town and into the country roads.”
The soldiers of Benjamin attacked the Israelite army and started pushing it back from the town. They killed about 30 Israelites in the fields and along the road between Gibeah and Bethel. The men of Benjamin were thinking, “We're mowing them down like we did before.”
The Israelites were running away, but they headed for Baal-Tamar, where they regrouped. They had set an ambush, and they were sure it would work. Ten thousand of Israel's best soldiers had been hiding west of Gibeah, and as soon as the men of Benjamin chased the Israelites into the countryside, these 10,000 soldiers made a surprise attack on the town gates. They dashed in and captured Gibeah, killing everyone there. Then they set the town on fire, because the smoke would be the signal for the other Israelite soldiers to turn and attack the soldiers of Benjamin.
The fighting had been so heavy around the soldiers of Benjamin, that they did not know the trouble they were in. But then they looked back and saw clouds of smoke rising from the town. They looked in front and saw the soldiers of Israel turning to attack. This terrified them, because they realized that something horrible was happening. And it was horrible—over 25,000 soldiers of Benjamin died that day, and those who were left alive knew that the Lord had given Israel the victory.
42 The men of Benjamin headed down the road toward the desert, trying to escape from the Israelites. But the Israelites stayed right behind them, keeping up their attack. Men even came out of the nearby towns to help kill the men of Benjamin, 43 who were having to fight on all sides. The Israelite soldiers never let up their attack. They chased and killed the warriors of Benjamin as far as a place directly east of Gibeah, 44 until 18,000 of these warriors lay dead.
45 Some other warriors of Benjamin turned and ran down the road toward Rimmon Rock in the desert. The Israelites killed 5,000 of them on the road, then chased the rest until they had killed 2,000 more. 46 Twenty-five thousand soldiers of Benjamin died that day, all of them experienced warriors. 47 Only 600 of them finally made it into the desert to Rimmon Rock, where they stayed for four months.
48 The Israelites turned back and went to every town in Benjamin's territory, killing all the people and animals, and setting the towns on fire.
Israel Prepares for War
1 All the people of Israel from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east, answered the call. They gathered in one body in the Lord's presence at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the tribes of Israel were present at this gathering of God's people, and there were 400,000 foot soldiers. 3 Meanwhile the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah.
The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how was this crime committed?” 4 The Levite whose concubine had been murdered answered, “My concubine and I went to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night. 5 The men of Gibeah came to get me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me; instead they raped my concubine, and she died. 6 I took her body, cut it in pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. These people have committed an evil and immoral act among us. 7 All of you here are Israelites. What are we going to do about this?”
8 All the people stood up together and said, “None of us, whether he lives in a tent or in a house, will go home. 9 This is what we will do: we will draw lots and choose some men to attack Gibeah. 10 One tenth of the men in Israel will provide food for the army, and the others will go and punish Gibeah for this immoral act that they have committed in Israel.” 11 So all the men in Israel assembled with one purpose—to attack the town.
12 The Israelite tribes sent messengers all through the territory of the tribe of Benjamin to say, “What is this crime that you have committed? 13 Now hand over those perverts in Gibeah, so that we can kill them and remove this evil from Israel.” But the people of Benjamin paid no attention to the other Israelites. 14 From all the cities of Benjamin they came to Gibeah to fight the other people of Israel. 15-16 They called out twenty-six thousand soldiers from their cities that day. Besides these, the citizens of Gibeah gathered seven hundred specially chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a strand of hair and never miss. 17 Not counting the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelites gathered 400,000 trained soldiers.
The War against the Benjaminites
18 The Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel, and there they asked God, “Which tribe should attack the Benjaminites first?”
The Lord answered, “The tribe of Judah.”
19 So the Israelites started out the next morning and camped near the city of Gibeah. 20 They went to attack the army of Benjamin, and placed the soldiers in position facing the city. 21 The army of Benjamin came out of the city, and before the day was over they had killed twenty-two thousand Israelite soldiers. 22-23 Then the Israelites went to the place of worship and mourned in the presence of the Lord until evening. They asked him, “Should we go again into battle against our brothers the Benjaminites?”
The Lord answered, “Yes.”
So the Israelite army was encouraged, and they placed their soldiers in position again, where they had been the day before. 24 They marched against the army of Benjamin a second time. 25 And for the second time the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and this time they killed eighteen thousand trained Israelite soldiers. 26 Then all the people of Israel went up to Bethel and mourned. They sat there in the Lord's presence and did not eat until evening. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole—all in the presence of the Lord. 27-28 God's Covenant Box was there at Bethel in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, was in charge of it. The people asked the Lord, “Should we go out to fight our brothers the Benjaminites again, or should we give up?”
The Lord answered, “Fight. Tomorrow I will give you victory over them.”
29 So the Israelites put some soldiers in hiding around Gibeah. 30 Then for the third straight day they marched against the army of Benjamin and placed their soldiers in battle position facing Gibeah, as they had done before. 31 The Benjaminites came out to fight and were led away from the city. As they had before, they began killing some Israelites in the open country, on the road to Bethel and on the road to Gibeah. They killed about thirty Israelites. 32 The Benjaminites said, “We've beaten them just as before.”
But the Israelites had planned to retreat and lead them away from the city onto the roads. 33 So when the main army of the Israelites pulled back and regrouped at Baaltamar, the men surrounding Gibeah suddenly rushed out of their hiding places in the rocky country around the city. 34 Ten thousand men, specially chosen out of all Israel, attacked Gibeah, and the fighting was hard. The Benjaminites had not realized that they were about to be destroyed. 35 The Lord gave Israel victory over the army of Benjamin. The Israelites killed 25,100 of the enemy that day, 36 and the Benjaminites realized they were defeated.
How the Israelites Won
The main body of the Israelite army had retreated from the Benjaminites because they were relying on the men that they had put in hiding around Gibeah. 37 These men ran quickly toward Gibeah; they spread out in the city and killed everyone there. 38 The main Israelite army and the men in hiding had arranged a signal. When they saw a big cloud of smoke going up from the town, 39 the Israelites out on the battlefield were to turn around. By this time the Benjaminites had already killed the thirty Israelites. They told themselves, “Yes, we've beaten them just as before.” 40 Then the signal appeared; a cloud of smoke began to go up from the town. The Benjaminites looked behind them and were amazed to see the whole city going up in flames. 41 Then the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites were thrown into panic because they realized that they were about to be destroyed. 42 They retreated from the Israelites and ran toward the open country, but they could not escape. They were caught between the main army and the men who were now coming out of the city, and they were destroyed. 43 The Israelites had the enemy trapped, and without stopping they pursued them as far as a point east of Gibeah, killing them as they went. 44 Eighteen thousand of the best Benjaminite soldiers were killed. 45 The others turned and ran toward the open country to Rimmon Rock. Five thousand of them were killed on the roads. The Israelites continued to pursue the rest to Gidom, killing two thousand. 46 In all, twenty-five thousand Benjaminites were killed that day—all of them brave soldiers.
47 But six hundred men were able to escape to the open country to Rimmon Rock, and they stayed there four months. 48 The Israelites turned back against the rest of the Benjaminites and killed them all—men, women, and children, and animals as well. They burned every town in the area.