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Judges 20
Jubilee Bible 2000
Judges 20
Jubilee Bible 2000
20 ¶ Then all the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan to Beersheba and the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh.
2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, were present in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.
3 (Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then the sons of Israel said, Tell us, how was this wickedness?
4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said, I came into Gibeah of Benjamin with my concubine to pass the night there.
5 And the men of Gibeah rose up against me and beset the house round about upon me by night and thought to have slain me, and they have forced my concubine in such a manner that she is dead.
6 Then I took my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the possession of Israel, for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.
7 Behold, all ye sons of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.
8 Then all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house
9 until we do this upon Gibeah that we cast lots against it;
10 and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch provisions for the people that shall go against Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.
11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.
12 ¶ And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?
13 Now therefore deliver us those men, the sons of Belial, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and put away the evil from Israel. But the sons of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren, the sons of Israel;
14 but the sons of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities in Gibeah to go out to battle against the sons of Israel.
15 And the sons of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty-six thousand men that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men with their right hands impeded (they were lefthanded); each one could sling stones at a hairs breadth, and not miss. {Heb. sin}
17 And the men of Israel, not counting Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war.
18 ¶ Then the sons of Israel arose and went up to the house of God and asked counsel of God and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the sons of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.
19 And the sons of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in order to fight against them at Gibeah.
21 And the sons of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah and destroyed down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites that day.
22 And the people encouraged themselves, and the men of Israel set their battle again in order in the place where they put themselves in order the first day.
23 (And the sons of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the sons of Benjamin, my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)
24 And the sons of Israel came near against the sons of Benjamin the second day.
25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day and again destroyed down to the ground eighteen thousand of the sons of Israel; all these drew the sword.
26 ¶ Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came unto the house of God and wept and sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
27 And the sons of Israel enquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28 and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of Benjamin, my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into thy hand.
29 And Israel set ambushes round about Gibeah.
30 And the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and put themselves in order against Gibeah as at the other times.
31 And the sons of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city, and they began to smite of the people and kill as at the other times in the highways, one of which goes up to the house of God and the other to Gibeah by the field, and they killed about thirty men of Israel.
32 And the sons of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us as at the first. But the sons of Israel said, Let us flee and draw them from the city unto the highways.
33 Then all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and put themselves in order at Baaltamar, and also those of the ambushes of Israel came forth out of their place, out of the meadows of Gibeah.
34 And ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was sore; but they did not know that evil was near them.
35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men; all these drew the sword.
36 So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were smitten, for the men of Israel had given place to the Benjamites because they trusted those of the ambushes which they had set behind Gibeah.
37 Then the men of the ambushes rushed upon Gibeah and spread out and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.
38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the men of the ambushes that they should make a great signal by causing much smoke to rise up out of the city.
39 Then when the men of Israel turned their backs in the battle and those of Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons, for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us as in the first battle.
40 But when the signal began to arise up out of the city, a pillar of smoke, those of Benjamin looked behind them, and, behold, the whole consumption of the city ascended up to heaven.
41 Then the men of Israel turned again, and the men of Benjamin were terrified, for they saw that evil was come upon them.
42 Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.
43 Thus they inclosed those of Benjamin round about and chased them and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour.
45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon; and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
46 So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour.
47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the sons of Benjamin and smote them with the edge of the sword, men and beasts in every city and all that was found; they also set on fire all the cities that they came to.
Judges 20
New International Version
Judges 20
New International Version
The Israelites Punish the Benjamites
20 Then all Israel(A) from Dan to Beersheba(B) and from the land of Gilead came together as one(C) and assembled(D) before the Lord in Mizpah.(E) 2 The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand men(F) armed with swords. 3 (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah(G) in Benjamin to spend the night.(H) 5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me.(I) They raped my concubine, and she died.(J) 6 I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance,(K) because they committed this lewd and outrageous act(L) in Israel. 7 Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.(M)”
8 All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. 9 But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots.(N) 10 We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah[a] in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.” 11 So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.(O)
12 The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you?(P) 13 Now turn those wicked men(Q) of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.(R)”
But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. 14 From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. 15 At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. 16 Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed,(S) each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.
18 The Israelites went up to Bethel[b](T) and inquired of God.(U) They said, “Who of us is to go up first(V) to fight(W) against the Benjamites?”
The Lord replied, “Judah(X) shall go first.”
19 The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. 20 The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21 The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites(Y) on the battlefield that day. 22 But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord(Z) until evening,(AA) and they inquired of the Lord.(AB) They said, “Shall we go up again to fight(AC) against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”
The Lord answered, “Go up against them.”
24 Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. 25 This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites,(AD) all of them armed with swords.
26 Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the Lord.(AE) They fasted(AF) that day until evening and presented burnt offerings(AG) and fellowship offerings(AH) to the Lord.(AI) 27 And the Israelites inquired of the Lord.(AJ) (In those days the ark of the covenant of God(AK) was there, 28 with Phinehas son of Eleazar,(AL) the son of Aaron, ministering before it.)(AM) They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?”
The Lord responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.(AN)”
29 Then Israel set an ambush(AO) around Gibeah. 30 They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 31 The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away(AP) from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel(AQ) and the other to Gibeah. 32 While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,”(AR) the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”
33 All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place(AS) on the west[c] of Gibeah.[d] 34 Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize(AT) how near disaster was.(AU) 35 The Lord defeated Benjamin(AV) before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.
Now the men of Israel had given way(AW) before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush(AX) they had set near Gibeah. 37 Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword.(AY) 38 The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke(AZ) from the city,(BA) 39 and then the Israelites would counterattack.
The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, “We are defeating them as in the first battle.”(BB) 40 But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke.(BC) 41 Then the Israelites counterattacked,(BD) and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come(BE) on them. 42 So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily[e] overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters.(BF) 45 As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon,(BG) the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.
46 On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite(BH) swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. 47 But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48 The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.(BI)
Footnotes
- Judges 20:10 One Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts Geba, a variant of Gibeah
- Judges 20:18 Or to the house of God; also in verse 26
- Judges 20:33 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Judges 20:33 Hebrew Geba, a variant of Gibeah
- Judges 20:43 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
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