Judges 20 ISV BSB Parallel

◄ Judges 20 ►

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Berean Study Bible

1Then the entire Israeli nation—from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the territory of Gilead—came out for war. The army assembled as one united force to God at Mizpah.

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.

2The officials of the entire nation, including every tribe of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God: 400,000 foot soldiers, all of them expert swordsmen.

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.

3While the descendants of Benjamin were learning that the Israelis had gone up to Mizpah, the Israelis asked, "Somebody tell us how this evil could happen?"

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?”

4So the descendant of Levi, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up and replied, "I came to spend the night at Gibeah, which is part of Benjamin, along with my mistress.

4So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

5But the officials of Gibeah attacked me and surrounded the house because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they tortured my mistress to death.

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.

6So I grabbed my mistress, cut her in pieces, and sent her remains throughout the territory of Israel's inheritance, because they've committed a vile, stupid outrage in Israel.

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.

7So look, all you Israelis! Speak up and give us your advice!"

7Behold, all you Israelites, give your advice and verdict here and now.”

8Then the entire army stood up as a single unit and declared, "Nobody's going back to his tent, and nobody's going home!

8Then all the people stood as one man and said, “Not one of us will return to his tent or to his house.

9This is what we'll do to Gibeah: we're going to assemble an army by lottery.

9Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will go against it as the lot dictates.

10We'll take ten men out of 100 from all of the tribes of Israel. We'll appoint 100 out of 1,000 and 1,000 out of 10,000 to supply provisions for the army. And when we reach Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, we'll punish them for all of the stupid things that they've done in Israel."

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.”

11That's how the army of Israel came to be gathered together to attack the city, united as a single unit.

11So all the men of Israel gathered as one man, united against the city.

12The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the entire tribe of Benjamin to ask them, "What is this evil thing that has occurred among you?

12And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you?

13Now then, hand over the men—those ungodly men, and we'll execute them in order to remove this evil from Israel." But the descendants of Benjamin wouldn't obey the request of their own relatives, the Israelis,

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.

14so the descendants of Benjamin assembled from the cities of Gibeah to fight the Israelis in battle.

14And from their cities they came together at Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites.

15The day of the battle, the army from the descendants of Benjamin numbered 26,000 expert swordsmen from their cities, not including the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered 700 special forces soldiers.

15On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah.

16Out of all these soldiers, 700 of them were left-handed—and each one could sling a stone at a hair and never miss.

16Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.

17But the Israeli army—not counting the tribe of Benjamin—numbered 400,000 expert swordsmen, all of them battle-hardened soldiers.

17The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.

18The Israelis mounted up, traveled to Bethel, and asked God what to do. They said, "Who is to lead us in our opening attack against the descendants of Benjamin?" The LORD replied, "Judah is to open the attack."

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.

19So the Israelis got up in the morning, encamped near Gibeah,

19The next morning the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah.

20and the army of Israel went out to fight the tribe of Benjamin, assembling in battle array against them at Gibeah.

20And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took up their battle positions at Gibeah.

21The descendants of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and 22,000 soldiers of Israel fell in battle that day.

21And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.

22But the army—the men of Israel—encouraged themselves and arrayed for battle again the next day in the same place where they had gathered the day before.

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.

23From there the Israelis went up and wept in the LORD's presence until evening. Then they asked the LORD, "Should we attack the descendants of Benjamin again?" The LORD replied, "Attack them."

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.”

24So the Israelis attacked the descendants of Benjamin for a second day,

24On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites.

25and the tribe of Benjamin went to war against them from Gibeah during that second day, and 18,000 soldiers from the Israelis—all of them expert swordsmen—fell to the ground.

25That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

26All the Israelis, including its army, went up from there to Bethel and wept, remaining there in the LORD's presence, fasting throughout the day until dusk, when they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings in the LORD's presence.

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.

27The Israelis inquired of the LORD, since the Ark of the Covenant was there at that time

27And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there,

28while Eleazar's son Phinehas, a descendant of Aaron, served before it in those days. They asked, "Should we go out to war again against the descendants of our relative Benjamin, or shall we cease?" And the LORD answered, "Go out, and tomorrow I will deliver them into your control."

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.”

29So Israel set soldiers in ambush around Gibeah.

29So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah.

30The Israelis went out against the descendants of Benjamin on the third day, arraying themselves against Gibeah as they had done previously.

30On the third day the Israelites went up against the Benjamites and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as they had done before.

31They attacked the army and were drawn away from the city as they began to inflict casualties on the soldiers along the roads to Bethel and Gibeah, just as they had done the other times. About 30 soldiers from Israel fell in battle there and in the fields.

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.

32Then the descendants of Benjamin told themselves, "They're falling right in front of us, just like before!" But the army of Israel told themselves, "Let's draw them away by escaping to the highways from the city."

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.”

33So the entire army of Israel moved from their location and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamer while that part of their army moved from their ambush positions from Maareh-geba.

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.

34As 10,000 of Israel's best soldiers came to fight Gibeah, the battle became fierce, but the army of Benjamin didn't know that disaster was close at hand.

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.

35The LORD struck Benjamin in the full view of Israel. As a result, the Israelis destroyed 25,100 soldiers of Benjamin that day, all expert swordsmen.

35The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.

36Then the descendants of Benjamin realized that they had been defeated. The army of Israel pretended to retreat from the army of Benjamin, knowing that they had set some soldiers in ambush near Gibeah.

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.

37The soldiers in ambush rushed out to attack Gibeah, deploying in force and executing the entire city with swords.

37The men in ambush rushed suddenly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword.

38Meanwhile, the army of Israel had arranged to signal their soldiers who had been hiding in ambush by sending up a cloud of smoke from the 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,

39The army of Israel turned around in the battle, and the army of Benjamin began to attack and kill about 30 soldiers, thinking, "Now we're really defeating them, just like before."

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.”

40But then the smoke began to rise from the city in a column. The army of Benjamin observed behind them that the whole city was going up in flames straight into the sky!

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.

41At that point, as the army of Israel turned back to face the army of Benjamin, the army of Benjamin was filled with terror, because they realized that disaster was about to overtake them.

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.

42So they turned tail and ran away from the army of Israel toward the wilderness, but they were overtaken in battle when soldiers came out from the cities to destroy them.

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.

43They surrounded the army of Benjamin, pursuing them ceaselessly until they defeated them near the east-facing border of Gibeah.

43They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and easily overtook them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east.

44That's how 18,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin fell in battle, all of whom were valiant soldiers.

44And 18,000 Benjamites fell, all men of valor.

45The rest of them turned and ran into the wilderness in the direction of the rock of Rimmon, but 5,000 of them were killed on the highways while 2,000 of them were overtaken and killed near Gidom.

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.

46To sum up, the soldiers from the tribe of Benjamin who died that day totaled 25,000 men, all of them expert swordsmen and valiant soldiers.

46That day 25,000 Benjamite swordsmen fell, all men of valor.

47However, 600 soldiers ran into the wilderness in the direction of the rock of Rimmon, where they remained as fugitives for four months.

47But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months.

48Meanwhile, the army of Israel went back to fight the surviving descendants of Benjamin. They attacked the entire city with swords, including its cattle and everyone they could find. Then they set fire to all of the cities that they could find.

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.

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