Judges 20

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.

1Then all the people of Israel came out together. They came from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, and from Gilead too. They gathered before the LORD at Mizpah, standing together like one person.

2And 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.

2The leaders of every tribe of Israel came to the meeting of God's people. There were 400,000 soldiers on foot, each carrying a 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?

3Meanwhile the people of Benjamin heard that Israel had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites said, "Tell us. How did this evil thing happen?"

4And 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.

4The Levite answered. He was the husband of the woman who was killed. A Levite was a man from the tribe of Levi, who helped with worship. He said, "I came to the town of Gibeah, in Benjamin's land. My concubine came with me. A concubine was a woman who lived with a man like a wife, but with fewer rights. We only wanted a place to sleep.

5And 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.

5"That night the men of Gibeah came after me. They stood all around the house. They meant to kill me. Instead they hurt my concubine so badly that she died.

6And 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.

6"So I took her body and cut it in pieces. I sent the pieces all over the land of Israel. I did it because they had done a shameful and evil thing in Israel.

7Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.

7"You are all Israelites. Now tell me what you think should be done."

8And 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.

8All the people stood up together as one. They said, "Not one of us will go back home to his tent or his house.

9But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;

9"Here is what we will do to Gibeah. We will draw lots to decide who goes up against it.

Note"By lot" means they let small stones or sticks decide, the way we might draw straws. People then believed God guided the answer.

10And 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.

10"Out of every hundred men in Israel we will take ten. Out of every thousand we will take a hundred. Out of every ten thousand we will take a thousand. These men will bring food for the army. Then the rest can go to Gibeah in Benjamin. They will punish the town for the awful thing it did in Israel."

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

11So all the men of Israel gathered against the town. They were joined together like one person.

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

12The tribes of Israel sent men all through the tribe of Benjamin. They asked, "What is this evil thing that has happened among you?

13Now 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:

13"Hand over those wicked men of Gibeah. We will put them to death and take this evil out of Israel." But the people of Benjamin would not listen to their brothers.

NoteThe KJV calls them "children of Belial." That is an old way of saying "worthless, wicked men." It is not a family name.

14But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.

14Instead, the men of Benjamin left their towns and came to Gibeah. They came to fight against the people of Israel.

15And 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.

15That day Benjamin counted 26,000 men with swords from their towns. There were also 700 chosen men from Gibeah itself.

16Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.

16Among these soldiers were 700 chosen men who used their left hand. Each one could sling a stone at a hair and never miss.

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

17Israel, not counting Benjamin, had 400,000 men with swords. Every one of them was a trained fighter.

18And 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.

18The Israelites went up to the house of God at Bethel. They asked God, "Which of us should go up first to fight Benjamin?" The LORD said, "Judah will go first."

19And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.

19The next morning the Israelites got up and camped near Gibeah.

20And 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.

20The men of Israel went out to fight Benjamin. They lined up for battle at Gibeah.

21And 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.

21The men of Benjamin came out of Gibeah. That day they killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield.

22And 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.

22But the men of Israel gave each other courage. They lined up for battle again in the same place as 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.)

23They had gone up and cried before the LORD until evening. They asked, "Should we fight our brothers of Benjamin again?" The LORD said, "Go up against them."

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

24So on the second day the Israelites came near to fight Benjamin.

25And 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.

25That day Benjamin came out of Gibeah against them. They killed another 18,000 Israelite men, all of them soldiers with swords.

26Then 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.

26Then all the Israelites went up to the house of God at Bethel. They sat there before the LORD and cried. They ate no food all that day, until evening. They gave burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal given to God and burned up completely. A peace offering was an animal given to God, and part of it was eaten as a shared meal.

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

27The Israelites asked the LORD what to do. In those days the ark of God's covenant was there. The ark was the holy chest that held God's agreement with Israel.

28And 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.

28Phinehas served in front of it in those days. He was the son of Eleazar, who was the son of Aaron. They asked, "Should we fight our brothers of Benjamin again, or should we stop?" The LORD said, "Go up. Tomorrow I will hand them over to you."

29And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.

29So Israel hid men all around Gibeah, waiting to surprise them.

30And 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.

30On the third day the Israelites went up against Benjamin. They lined up against Gibeah just as they had before.

31And 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.

31The men of Benjamin came out to fight and were pulled away from the town. They began to strike people down as before. They killed about thirty Israelites in the fields and on the roads. One road went up to Bethel, and the other went to Gibeah.

32And 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.

32Benjamin's men said, "We are beating them, just like the first time." But the Israelites said, "Let us run away. That will pull them from the town onto the roads."

33And 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.

33All the men of Israel got up from their places and lined up at Baal-tamar. The hidden men of Israel rushed out from the fields near Gibeah.

34And 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.

34Ten thousand of Israel's best men came straight at Gibeah. The fighting was hard. Benjamin's men did not know that trouble was right beside them.

35And 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.

35The LORD gave Benjamin over to Israel. That day the Israelites killed 25,100 men of Benjamin, all soldiers with swords.

36So 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.

36Then Benjamin's men saw that they had lost. Israel had backed away from them on purpose. They did it because they trusted the men hidden near Gibeah.

37And 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.

37The hidden men hurried and rushed into Gibeah. They spread out through the town and killed everyone there with their swords.

38Now 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.

38The men of Israel and the hidden men had agreed on a sign. The sign was a big cloud of smoke rising up from the town.

39And 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.

39When it came, the men of Israel would turn around and fight. Benjamin had already killed about thirty Israelites. They were saying, "We are beating them, just like the first battle."

40But 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.

40But then the smoke began to rise from the town in a tall column. The men of Benjamin looked behind them. They saw their whole town going up in flames.

41And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them.

41Then the men of Israel turned back on them. The men of Benjamin were filled with fear. They saw that trouble had come upon them.

42Therefore 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.

42So they ran away from Israel toward the desert. But the battle caught up with them. Men coming out of the towns cut them down along the way.

43Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.

43Israel surrounded Benjamin's men and chased them. They caught them easily near Gibeah, on the east side.

44And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour.

44Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell that day. All of them were brave fighters.

45And 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.

45The rest turned and ran to the desert, to the rock of Rimmon. Israel killed 5,000 of them along the roads. They chased the rest as far as Gidom and killed 2,000 more.

46So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour.

46So 25,000 men of Benjamin died that day, all soldiers with swords. All of them were brave fighters.

47But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.

47But six hundred men ran away to the desert, to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed there for four months.

48And 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.

48The men of Israel went back to the rest of Benjamin's land. They struck every town with their swords. They killed the people and the animals and everything they found. They also burned down every town they came to.