Judges 20:4-34

⁴And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said, I came to Gib'ah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to stay one night,

⁵When the men of Gib'ah rose against me, and beset the house round about against me by night; me they intended to slay; and my concubine they humbled, so that she died.

⁶And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her about throughout all the fields of the inheritance of Israel; for they had committed incest and scandal in Israel.

⁷Behold, ye are all here children of Israel: furnish for yourselves here advice and counsel.

⁸And all the people then arose as one man, saying, We will not go any of us to his tent, neither will we turn any of us into his house.

⁹And now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gib'ah: We will go up against it by lot;

¹⁰And we will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to procure provisions for the people; that they may do, when they come to Gib'ah of Benjamin, in accordance with all the scandalous deed that they have wrought in Israel.

¹¹So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, associated together as one man.

¹²And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the divisions of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that hath been done among you?

¹³Now therefore deliver up the men, those worthless people, who are in Gib'ah, that we may put them to death, and remove evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel.

¹⁴And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gib'ah, to go out to battle with the children of Israel.

¹⁵And at that time there were numbered of the children of Benjamin out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew the sword, beside the inhabitants of Gib'ah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

¹⁶Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lame in the right hand: every one of these could sling a stone at a hair, and would not miss.

¹⁷And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew the sword: all these were men of war.

¹⁸And they arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and the children of Israel said, Who of us shall go up at first to the battle with the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah, at first.

¹⁹And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gib'ah.

²⁰And the men of Israel went out to battle with Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in battle-array against them by Gib'ah.

²¹And the Children of Benjamin came forth out of Gib'ah, and struck down to the ground of the Israelites on that day twenty and two thousand men.

²²And the people the men of Israel took courage, and set themselves again in battle-array in the place where they had arrayed themselves on the first day.

²³And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until the evening, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, Shall I again approach to battle with the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him.

²⁴And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin on the second day.

²⁵And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gib'ah on the second day, and struck down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men: all these were men that drew the sword.

²⁶Now all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted on that day until the evening, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.

²⁷And the children of Israel inquired of the Lord, (for there was the ark of the covenant of God in those days,

²⁸And Phinehas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, shall I yet continue to go out to battle with the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I forbear? And the Lord said, Go up; for tomorrow will I deliver him into thy hand.

²⁹And Israel sent men to lie in wait round about Gib'ah.

³⁰And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gib'ah, as at previous times.

³¹And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite some of the people, and kill, as at previous times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to Beth-el, and the other to Gib'ah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

³²And the children of Benjamin said, They are defeated before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.

³³And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Ba'al-thamar: and those that lay in wait of Israel rushed forth out of their place, out of the meadows of Gib'ah.

³⁴And there came against Gib'ah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was severe; but they knew not that the evil was overtaking them.