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Judges 20
New Life Version
Judges 20
New Life Version
Israel Gets Ready for War
20 Then all the people of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out. The people gathered together as one man to the Lord at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the people, all the families of Israel, showed themselves in the meeting of the people of God. There were 400,000 soldiers on foot who used the sword. 3 (The people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) The people of Israel said, “Tell us. How did this sinful thing happen?” 4 The Levite, the husband of the woman who was killed, answered, “I came with my woman to stay the night at Gibeah, a city of Benjamin. 5 But the men of Gibeah came against me. They gathered around the house at night because of me. They wanted to kill me. But they did sex with my woman instead, so she died. 6 I took my woman and cut her into pieces. I sent her out through all the land that was given to Israel. For they have done a sinful act of shame in Israel. 7 All you people of Israel, say what should be done.”
8 All the people stood up as one man, saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent. Not one of us will return to his house. 9 But this is what we will do to Gibeah. We will go against it by drawing names. 10 We will take ten men of every 100 among the families of Israel, and 100 of every 1,000, and 1,000 of every 10,000. They will take food for the people. So when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the acts of shame they have done in Israel.” 11 All the men of Israel were gathered against the city, together as one man.
12 The family groups of Israel sent men through the whole family group of Benjamin, saying, “What is this sin that has happened among you? 13 Now give us the sinful men of Gibeah. Then we will put them to death and take this sin away from Israel.” But the people of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel. 14 The people of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah. They came to go out to battle against the people of Israel. 15 Out of the sons of Benjamin, there were 26,000 men who used the sword who came from the cities on that day. And there were 700 chosen men who lived in Gibeah. 16 There were 700 chosen men of all these people who were left-handed. Each one could use a sling to throw a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 Apart from Benjamin, there were 400,000 men of Israel who used the sword. All of them were men of war. 18 The people of Israel went up to Bethel. There they asked God, “Who should go first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” The Lord said, “Judah should go first.”
19 So the people of Israel got up in the morning and went to get ready to fight against Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went to fight against Benjamin. They dressed themselves for battle against them at Gibeah. 21 The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and killed 22,000 men of Israel on that day. 22 But the men of Israel made their hearts strong. They got ready for battle again in the same place they had fought the first day. 23 The people of Israel went up and cried before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we go again in battle against our brothers the people of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go fight against them.”
24 So the sons of Israel came to fight against the sons of Benjamin the second day. 25 Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah the second day. And they killed 18,000 men of Israel who used the sword. 26 Then all the people of Israel went up to Bethel and cried. They stayed that day before the Lord and would not eat until evening. They gave burnt gifts and peace gifts to the Lord. 27 The people of Israel asked the Lord what to do. (For the special box with the Law of God was there in those days. 28 Phinehas the son of Eleazar, Aaron’s son, served in front of it those days.) The people said, “Should we go again in battle against our brothers the people of Benjamin? Or should we stop?” The Lord said, “Go fight against them. For tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”
29 So Israel sent men to hide around Gibeah. 30 The sons of Israel went to fight against the sons of Benjamin on the third day. They dressed themselves for battle against Gibeah as they had done before. 31 The sons of Benjamin went out to fight the people and were taken away from the city. They began to fight and kill some of the people as they had done before. They killed about thirty men of Israel in the open country and on the roads. One road went up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 32 The sons of Benjamin said, “They are being killed in front of us as they were the first day.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let us run away so we can get them away from the city and to the roads.” 33 Then all the men of Israel left their place and went to fight at Baal-tamar. And the men of Israel who were hiding rushed out of their place in the plain of Geba. 34 When 10,000 chosen men of Israel came against Gibeah, the battle was hard. But the people of Benjamin did not know that such danger was so close to them. 35 The Lord destroyed Benjamin in front of Israel. The sons of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day. All these were men who used the sword. 36 So the people of Benjamin saw that they had lost the battle.
The men of Israel ran from Benjamin because they trusted in the men who were hiding and waiting to take Gibeah. 37 The men who had been hiding were quick to rush against Gibeah. They destroyed all of the city with the sword. 38 The men of Israel had agreed that the men who had been hiding should make a big cloud of smoke rise from the city. It would be something special for them to see. 39 Then the men of Israel turned around to fight in battle. Benjamin began to fight and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, “For sure they are destroyed in front of us as in the first battle.” 40 But when the cloud of smoke started to rise from the city, the men of Benjamin looked behind them. They saw the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. 41 Then the men of Israel turned around. And the men of Benjamin were filled with fear. For they saw that they were in much danger. 42 So they turned their backs to the men of Israel and ran toward the desert. But they were caught in the battle. Those who came out of the cities destroyed them. 43 They gathered around the people of Benjamin. They ran after them without stopping to rest and came upon them at the east side of Gibeah. 44 So 18,000 men of Benjamin were killed. All of them were powerful soldiers. 45 The others turned and ran toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon. But Israel killed 5,000 of them on the roads, and 2,000 at Gidom. 46 So 25,000 men of Benjamin were killed that day. All of them were powerful soldiers who used the sword. 47 But 600 men ran toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed there for four months. 48 Then the men of Israel returned to fight the people of Benjamin. They destroyed them, their whole city, the cattle and all they found, with the sword. And they set fire to all the cities they found.
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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