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)

²⁸ “Please forgive^(A) your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting^(B) dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles,^(C) and no wrongdoing^(D) will be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹ Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life,^(E) the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl^(F) away as from the pocket of a sling.^{(G) 30} When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler^(H) over Israel, ³¹ my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember^(I) your servant.”^(J)

² So the king said to Joab^(A) and the army commanders^[a] with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba^(B) and enroll^(C) the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”