Judges 20
Open in the reader1Then all the children of Strives-with-God from Judge to Well-of-Oath and from the land of Heap-of-Witness came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before He-Who-Is at Watchtower.
2The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Strives-with-God presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords.
3(Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the children of Strives-with-God had gone up to Watchtower.) And the children of Strives-with-God asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?”
4So the Joined-One, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to The-Hill in Son-of-the-Right-Hand to spend the night.
5And during the night, the men of The-Hill rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died.
6Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Strives-with-God’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Strives-with-God.
7Behold, all you children of Strives-with-God, give your advice and verdict here and now.”
8Then all the people stood as one man and said, “Not one of us will return to his tent or to his house.
9Now this is what we will do to The-Hill: We will go against it as the lot dictates.
10We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Strives-with-God, 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 Hillock in Son-of-the-Right-Hand to punish them for the atrocity they have committed in Strives-with-God.”
11So all the men of Strives-with-God gathered as one man, united against the city.
12And the tribes of Strives-with-God sent men throughout the tribe of Son-of-the-Right-Hand, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you?
13Hand over the wicked men of The-Hill so we can put them to death and purge Strives-with-God of this evil.” But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow children of Strives-with-God.
14And from their cities they came together at The-Hill to go out and fight against the children of Strives-with-God.
15On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of The-Hill.
16Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.
17The children of Strives-with-God, apart from Son-of-the-Right-Hand, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.
18The children of Strives-with-God set out, went up to House-of-God, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Praised will be first,” He-Who-Is replied.
19The next morning the children of Strives-with-God set out and camped near The-Hill.
20And the men of Strives-with-God went out to fight against Son-of-the-Right-Hand and took up their battle positions at The-Hill.
21And the Benjamites came out of The-Hill and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.
22But the child of Strives-with-God army took courage and again took their battle positions in the same place where they had arrayed themselves on the first day.
23They went up and wept before He-Who-Is until evening, inquiring of Him, “Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?” And He-Who-Is answered, “Go up against them.”
24On the second day the children of Strives-with-God advanced against the Benjamites.
25That same day the Benjamites came out against them from The-Hill and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
26Then the children of Strives-with-God, all the people, went up to House-of-God, where they sat weeping before He-Who-Is. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to He-Who-Is.
27And the children of Strives-with-God inquired of He-Who-Is. (In those days the Chest of the covenant of God was there,
28and Phinehas son of My-God-Is-Help, 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?” He-Who-Is answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”
29So Strives-with-God set up an ambush around The-Hill.
30On the third day the children of Strives-with-God went up against the Benjamites and arrayed themselves against The-Hill 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 Strives-with-God in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to House-of-God and the other to The-Hill.
32“We are defeating them as before,” said the Benjamites. But the children of Strives-with-God said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city onto the roads.”
33So all the men of Strives-with-God got up from their places and arrayed themselves at Master-of-the-Palm, and the children of Strives-with-God in ambush charged from their positions west of The-Hill.
34Then 10,000 select men from all Strives-with-God made a frontal assault against The-Hill, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them.
35He-Who-Is defeated Son-of-the-Right-Hand in the presence of Strives-with-God, and on that day the children of Strives-with-God slaughtered 25,100 Son-of-the-Right-Hand, all armed with swords.
36Then the Benjamites realized they had been defeated. Now the men of Strives-with-God had retreated before Son-of-the-Right-Hand because they were relying on the ambush they had set against The-Hill.
37The men in ambush rushed suddenly against The-Hill; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword.
38The men of Strives-with-God had arranged a signal with the men in ambush: When they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city,
39the men of Strives-with-God would turn in the battle. When the Benjamites had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Strives-with-God, they said, “They are defeated before us as in the first 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.
41Then the men of Strives-with-God turned back on them, and the men of Son-of-the-Right-Hand were terrified when they realized that disaster had come upon them.
42So they fled before the men of Strives-with-God toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and the men coming out of the cities struck them down there.
43They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and easily overtook them in the vicinity of The-Hill on the east.
44And 18,000 Son-of-the-Right-Hand fell, all men of valor.
45Then the Benjamites turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Pomegranate, and Strives-with-God cut down 5,000 men on the roads. And they overtook them at Cutting-Down and struck down 2,000 more.
46That day 25,000 Benjamite swordsmen fell, all men of valor.
47But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Pomegranate, where they stayed four months.
48And the men of Strives-with-God 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.