| Chapter
20 |
| 1 | Then
all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together
as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD
in Mizpeh. |
| 2 | And the
chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves
in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew
sword. |
| 3 | (Now the
children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.)
Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness? |
| 4 | And the Levite, the husband of
the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth
to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. |
| 5 | And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the
house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my
concubine have they forced, that she is dead. |
| 6 | And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent
her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have
committed lewdness and folly in Israel. |
| 7 | Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your
advice and counsel. |
| 8 | And
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 | But now this shall be the thing which we will do to
Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; |
| 10 | And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all
the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten
thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to
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 the men, the children of Belial, which are in
Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the
children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the
children of Israel. |
| 14 |
But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities
unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. |
| 15 | And the children of Benjamin were
numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew
sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred
chosen men. |
| 16 | Among all
this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could
sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. |
|
17 | And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were
numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of
war. |
| 18 | And the children
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 children of
Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first. |
| 19 | And the children 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 array to fight against them
at Gibeah. |
| 21 | And the
children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground
of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men. |
| 22 | And the people the men of Israel
encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where
they put themselves in array the first day. |
| 23 | (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the
LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to
battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up
against him.) |
| 24 | And the
children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second
day. |
| 25 | And Benjamin
went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the
ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew
the sword. |
| 26 | Then all
the children 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 even,
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. |
| 27 | And the children of Israel
inquired 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 children of Benjamin my brother,
or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them
into thine hand. |
| 29 | And
Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. |
| 30 | And the children of Israel went up against the children
of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at
other times. |
| 31 | And the
children 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 other times, in
the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to
Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel. |
|
32 | And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten
down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee,
and draw them from the city unto the highways. |
|
33 | And all the men of Israel rose up out of their
place, and put themselves in array at Baaltamar: and the liers in wait of
Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah. |
| 34 | And there came against
Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but
they knew not that evil was near them. |
| 35 | And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the
children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five
thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword. |
| 36 | So the children of Benjamin saw that
they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because
they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. |
| 37 | And the liers in wait hasted,
and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, 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 liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke
rise up out of the city. |
| 39 |
And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, 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 flame began to arise up out of the
city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold,
the flame of the city ascended up to heaven. |
| 41 | And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of
Benjamin were amazed: 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 them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the
midst of them. |
| 43 | Thus
they inclosed the Benjamites 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 valor. |
| 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 which fell that day of
Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were
men of valor. |
| 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 children of
Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every
city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the
cities that they came to. |
