| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah. | 1All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba and from the land of Gilead left their homes and assembled together before the LORD at Mizpah. |
| 2The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords. | 2The leaders of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God's people, which numbered four hundred thousand sword-wielding foot soldiers. |
| 3(Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?” | 3The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, "Explain how this wicked thing happened!" |
| 4So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. | 4The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, "I and my concubine stopped in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night. |
| 5And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died. | 5The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died. |
| 6Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. | 6I grabbed hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces throughout the territory occupied by Israel, because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity in Israel. |
| 7Behold, all you Israelites, give your advice and verdict here and now.” | 7All you Israelites, make a decision here!" |
| 8Then all the people stood as one man and said, “Not one of us will return to his tent or to his house. | 8All Israel rose up in unison and said, "Not one of us will go home! Not one of us will return to his house! |
| 9Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will go against it as the lot dictates. | 9Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will attack the city as the lot dictates. |
| 10We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to supply provisions for the army when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for the atrocity they have committed in Israel.” | 10We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army. When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel." |
| 11So all the men of Israel gathered as one man, united against the city. | 11So all the men of Israel gathered together at the city as allies. |
| 12And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? | 12The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "How could such a wicked thing take place? |
| 13Hand over the wicked men of Gibeah so we can put them to death and purge Israel of this evil.” But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow Israelites. | 13Now, hand over the good-for-nothings in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness." But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers. |
| 14And from their cities they came together at Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites. | 14The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war against the Israelites. |
| 15On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah. | 15That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers, besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from Gibeah. |
| 16Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing. | 16Among this army were seven hundred specially-trained left-handed soldiers. Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target. |
| 17The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior. | 17The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior. |
| 18The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied. | 18The Israelites went up to Bethel and asked God, "Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?" The LORD said, "Judah should lead." |
| 19The next morning the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah. | 19The Israelites got up the next morning and moved against Gibeah. |
| 20And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took up their battle positions at Gibeah. | 20The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they arranged their battle lines against Gibeah. |
| 21And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day. | 21The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day. |
| 22But the Israelite army took courage and again took their battle positions in the same place where they had arrayed themselves on the first day. | 22The Israelite army took heart and once more arranged their battle lines, in the same place where they had taken their positions the day before. |
| 23They went up and wept before the LORD until evening, inquiring of Him, “Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?” And the LORD answered, “Go up against them.” | 23The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening. They asked the LORD, "Should we again march out to fight the Benjaminites, our brothers?" The LORD said, "Attack them!" |
| 24On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites. | 24So the Israelites marched toward the Benjaminites the next day. |
| 25That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords. | 25The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers. |
| 26Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. | 26So all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They wept and sat there before the LORD; they did not eat anything that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace to the LORD. |
| 27And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, | 27The Israelites asked the LORD (for the ark of God's covenant was there in those days; |
| 28and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.” | 28Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the LORD in those days), "Should we once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers, or should we quit?" The LORD said, "Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you." |
| 29So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah. | 29So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah. |
| 30On the third day the Israelites went up against the Benjamites and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as they had done before. | 30The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day; they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before. |
| 31The Benjamites came out against them and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. | 31The Benjaminites attacked the army, leaving the city unguarded. They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down about thirty Israelites. |
| 32“We are defeating them as before,” said the Benjamites. But the Israelites said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city onto the roads.” | 32Then the Benjaminites said, "They are defeated just as before." But the Israelites said, "Let's retreat and lure them away from the city into the main roads." |
| 33So all the men of Israel got up from their places and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar, and the Israelites in ambush charged from their positions west of Gibeah. | 33All the men of Israel got up from their places and took their positions at Baal Tamar, while the Israelites hiding in ambush jumped out of their places west of Gibeah. |
| 34Then 10,000 select men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them. | 34Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah--the battle was fierce. But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep. |
| 35The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. | 35The LORD annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites. |
| 36Then the Benjamites realized they had been defeated. Now the men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin because they were relying on the ambush they had set against Gibeah. | 36Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated. The Israelites retreated before Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah. |
| 37The men in ambush rushed suddenly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword. | 37The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city. |
| 38The men of Israel had arranged a signal with the men in ambush: When they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city, | 38The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal. When the men hiding in ambush sent up a smoke signal from the city, |
| 39the men of Israel would turn in the battle. When the Benjamites had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Israel, they said, “They are defeated before us as in the first battle.” | 39the Israelites counterattacked. Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; they struck down about thirty men. They said, "There's no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle." |
| 40But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, the Benjamites looked behind them and saw the whole city going up in smoke. | 40But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky. |
| 41Then the men of Israel turned back on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had come upon them. | 41When the Israelites turned around, the Benjaminites panicked because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep. |
| 42So they fled before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and the men coming out of the cities struck them down there. | 42They retreated before the Israelites, taking the road to the wilderness. But the battle overtook them as men from the surrounding cities struck them down. |
| 43They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and easily overtook them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. | 43They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, and annihilated them all the way to a spot east of Geba. |
| 44And 18,000 Benjamites fell, all men of valor. | 44Eighteen thousand Benjaminites, all of them capable warriors, fell dead. |
| 45Then the Benjamites turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel cut down 5,000 men on the roads. And they overtook them at Gidom and struck down 2,000 more. | 45The rest turned and ran toward the wilderness, heading toward the cliff of Rimmon. But the Israelites caught five thousand of them on the main roads. They stayed right on their heels all the way to Gidom and struck down two thousand more. |
| 46That day 25,000 Benjamite swordsmen fell, all men of valor. | 46That day twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors. |
| 47But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. | 47Six hundred survivors turned and ran away to the wilderness, to the cliff of Rimmon. They stayed there four months. |
| 48And the men of Israel turned back against the other Benjamites and put to the sword all the cities, including the animals and everything else they found. And they burned down all the cities in their path. | 48The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path. |
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