NAS - Judges Chapter 20 to 21

20 Resolve to Punish the Guilty

¹Then all the sons of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD at Mizpah. ²The chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 foot soldiers who drew the sword. ³(Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, "Tell us, how did this wickedness take place?" ⁴So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "I came with my concubine to spend the night at Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. ⁵"But the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me; instead, they ravished my concubine so that she died. ⁶"And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout the land of Israel's inheritance; for they have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. ⁷"Behold, all you sons of Israel, give your advice and counsel here."

⁸Then all the people arose as one man, saying, "Not one of us will go to his tent, nor will any of us return to his house. ⁹"But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up against it by lot. ¹⁰"And we will take 10 men out of 100 throughout the tribes of Israel, and 100 out of 1,000, and 1,000 out of 10,000 to supply food for the people, that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the disgraceful acts that they have committed in Israel." ¹¹Thus all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united as one man.

¹²Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What is this wickedness that has taken place among you? ¹³"Now then, deliver up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel." But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel. ¹⁴The sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the sons of Israel. ¹⁵From the cities on that day the sons of Benjamin were numbered, 26,000 men who draw the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were numbered, 700 choice men. ¹⁶Out of all these people 700 choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

¹⁷Then the men of Israel besides Benjamin were numbered, 400,000 men who draw the sword; all these were men of war.

Civil War, Benjamin Defeated

¹⁸Now the sons of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God and said, "Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?" Then the LORD said, "Judah shall go up first."

¹⁹So the sons of Israel arose in the morning and camped against Gibeah. ²⁰The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel arrayed for battle against them at Gibeah. ²¹Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and felled to the ground on that day 22,000 men of Israel. ²²But the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and arrayed for battle again in the place where they had arrayed themselves the first day. ²³The sons of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall we again draw near for battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Go up against him."

²⁴Then the sons of Israel came against the sons of Benjamin the second day. ²⁵Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah the second day and felled to the ground again 18,000 men of the sons of Israel; all these drew the sword. ²⁶Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept; thus they remained there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. ²⁷The sons of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, ²⁸and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, Aaron's son, stood before it to minister in those days), saying, "Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?" And the LORD said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand."

²⁹So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰The sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as at other times. ³¹The sons of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city, and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. ³²The sons of Benjamin said, "They are struck down before us, as at the first." But the sons of Israel said, "Let us flee that we may draw them away from the city to the highways." ³³Then all the men of Israel arose from their place and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar; and the men of Israel in ambush broke out of their place, even out of Maareh-geba. ³⁴When ten thousand choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle became fierce; but Benjamin did not know that disaster was close to them. ³⁵And the LORD struck Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day, all who draw the sword.

³⁶So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. When the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah, ³⁷the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush also deployed and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. ³⁸Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city. ³⁹Then the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, for they said, "Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle." ⁴⁰But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, Benjamin looked behind them; and behold, the whole city was going up in smoke to heaven. ⁴¹Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified; for they saw that disaster was close to them. ⁴²Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel toward the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them while those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of them. ⁴³They surrounded Benjamin, pursued them without rest and trod them down opposite Gibeah toward the east. ⁴⁴Thus 18,000 men of Benjamin fell; all these were valiant warriors. ⁴⁵The rest turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, but they caught 5,000 of them on the highways and overtook them at Gidom and killed 2,000 of them. ⁴⁶So all of Benjamin who fell that day were 25,000 men who draw the sword; all these were valiant warriors. ⁴⁷But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. ⁴⁸The men of Israel then turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.

21 Mourning Lost Tribe

¹Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, "None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage." ²So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. ³They said, "Why, O LORD, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?" ⁴It came about the next day that the people arose early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

⁵Then the sons of Israel said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?" For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death." ⁶And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, "One tribe is cut off from Israel today. ⁷"What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?"

Provision for Their Survival

⁸And they said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah?" And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. ⁹For when the people were numbered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. ¹⁰And the congregation sent 12,000 of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. ¹¹"This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every man and every woman who has lain with a man." ¹²And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³Then the whole congregation sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. ¹⁴Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; yet they were not enough for them. ¹⁵And the people were sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?" ¹⁷They said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel. ¹⁸"But we cannot give them wives of our daughters." For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, "Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin."

¹⁹So they said, "Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah." ²⁰And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, ²¹and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ²²"It shall come about, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, `Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle, nor did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'" ²³The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they carried away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them. ²⁴The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance.

²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.