Judges 20:30-44

³⁰On the third day they took up the same positions they had as before.

³¹The Benjamites came out to attack them and were lured away from the town as they began to kill Israelites as they had before. Some thirty Israelites died on the battlefield and along the roads, the one that goes towards Bethel and the other that goes back towards Gibeah.

³²“We're defeating them, just like before,” the Benjamites shouted. But the Israelites said, “Let's run away from them and lure them away from the town towards the roads.”

³³The main army of Israelites left where they were and took up positions at Baal-tamar, while those in the ambush west of Gibeah charged out to attack from where they had been hiding.

³⁴Ten thousand seasoned Israelite warriors attacked Gibeah, and the fighting was so intense the Benjamites didn't realize they were on the brink of disaster.

³⁵So the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel. That day the Israelites killed twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites, all armed with swords.

³⁶The Benjamites saw that they were defeated. The Israelites had fallen back before the Benjamites because they were confident the ambush they had put in place near Gibeah would be successful.

³⁷The men from the ambush raced to attack the town, and they killed everyone in it.

³⁸The agreement was that they would send up a great cloud of smoke to show the town had fallen.

³⁹The Israelite army turned to attack the Benjamites, who had already killed about thirty Israelites. The Benjamites were saying, “We're completely defeating them, just like the first battle!”

⁴⁰However, when the Israelites saw the columns of smoke rising heavenwards to form a great cloud over the whole of the town,

⁴¹they turned on their enemies. The Benjamites were horrified when they saw it and realized they were doomed.

⁴²They turned and ran from the Israelites towards the desert, but the battle caught up with them, and the Israelites also killed those who left the towns on the way.

⁴³Chasing after the Benjamites, the Israelites surrounded them, easily overtaking them east of Gibeah.

⁴⁴Eighteen thousand Benjamites were killed, all of them courageous warriors.