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Civil War: Israel vs. Benjamin

Judges 20:1-48

20
Chapter 20
1 All the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation assembled as one man from Dan as far as Beersheba and the land of Gilead to the LORD at Mizpah. 2 And the corners stationed themselves, all the people, all the tribes of Israel, in the assembly with God, four hundred thousand footmen, drawn-sword men. 3 The sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to the lookout, and they said, “Sons of Israel, speak! How has this moral evil happened?” 4 And he answered, the Levite man, the man of the murdered woman, and he said, "To Gibeah, which is to Benjamin, I came there, I and my concubine, to lodge." 5 The lords of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house against me all night. They sought my blood to kill me, and they oppressed my concubine and she died. 6 And I seized my concubine and dismembered her and sent her throughout the entire field of the Inheritance of Israel, for they had done depravity and disgrace in Israel. 7 Look, all you sons of Israel, give your word and counsel here. 8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, "No man will go to his tent, and no man will turn aside to his house." 9 And now, this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go against it by lot. 10 We will take ten men per hundred for all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred per thousand, and a thousand per ten thousand, to take provisions for the people, to do according to their coming to Gibeah of Benjamin according to all the outrage that he did in Israel. 11 And he gathered all the men of Israel to the city as one united man. 12 And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, "What is this evil that has happened among you?" 13 And now give us the men, the sons of Belial, who are in Gibeah, and we will put them to death, and evil will be purged from Israel. But the sons of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel. 14 And the sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities of Gibeah to go out to war with the sons of Israel. 15 And the sons of Benjamin mustered on that day from the cities twenty-six thousand men drawn sword apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah; they mustered seven hundred chosen men. 16 From all this people, seven hundred chosen men who could bind his right hand to all this sling with a stone, and he does not miss. 17 And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword, all these men of war. 18 They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and they said, "Sons of Israel, who will go up for us first to warfare with sons of Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Judah first." 19 And the sons of Israel arose in the morning and encamped on the hill. 20 And the men of Israel went out to warfare with Benjamin, and they arrayed themselves—the men of Israel—for warfare against Gibeah. 21 The sons of Benjamin came out from the hill country and struck down Israel that day—twenty-two thousand men fell to the ground. 22 And the people strengthened themselves, man Israel, and they added to arrange warfare in the place which they arranged there in the first day. 23 The sons of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until the evening, and they inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I continue to approach the battle with the sons of Benjamin my brother?" And the LORD said, "Go up to him." 24 And the sons of Israel drew near to the sons of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out to meet them from the hill on the second day, and they struck down among the sons of Israel yet another eighteen thousand men to the earth, all these drawn swords. 26 And all the sons of Israel went up and all the people, and they came to the house of God, and they wept and sat there before the LORD, and they fasted on that day until the evening, and they offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 And the sons of Israel inquired of the LORD, and the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days. 28 And Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron stood before him in those days saying, "The one going out still to go out to warfare with the sons of Benjamin my brothers, shall I cease?" And the LORD said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will give him into your hand." 29 And Israel set ambushers against Gibeah all around. 30 The sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in order against the hill as once upon a time. 31 And the sons of Benjamin went out to meet the people; those who tore themselves away from the city began to strike down slain ones from the people as time after time on the paths, one of which went up to the house of God and one to the hill in the field, about thirty men in Israel. 32 And the sons of Benjamin said, "They are struck down before us as at first." And the sons of Israel said, "Let us flee and lure him from the city of refuge to the paths." 33 All the men of Israel rose from their place and set themselves in order at Baal-tamar, and Israel's ambush burst out from its place, from the caves of Gibeah. 34 And they came from opposite Gibeah, ten thousand chosen men from all Israel, and the warfare grew heavy. And they did not know that the evil had touched upon them. 35 And the LORD struck down Benjamin before Israel. And the sons of Israel destroyed in Benjamin on that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men, all of these drawn sword. 36 The sons of Benjamin saw that they were struck, and the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin because they trusted in the ambush that they had set against the hill. 37 The ambush hurried and spread out against the hill, and the ambush drew out and struck all the city to the mouth of a sword. 38 And the appointed time was for the men of Israel with the many ambushes to cause them to ascend at the uplifting of the smoke from the city. 39 And the men of Israel turned in the warfare, and Benjamin began to strike down slain in the men of Israel—about thirty men—for they said, “Surely a rout—a rout it is before us—like the first warfare.” 40 And the signal began to go up from the city, a pillar of smoke, and Benjamin turned behind it, and behold, the whole city went up in smoke to the heavens. 41 And the men of Israel turned and caused the men of Benjamin to panic, for they saw that the evil had come upon them. 42 They turned before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those from the cities were destroying them in their midst. 43 They surrounded Benjamin, pursued him from Nohah, and trod him down until opposite the hill from the east of the sun. 44 And eighteen thousand men fell from Benjamin, all these men of valor. 45 And they turned and fled to the wilderness toward the Rock of the Pomegranate, and they pursued him along the paths, five thousand men, and they clung after him until Gideam, and they struck from him two thousand men. 46 And all the fallen of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword that day, all these men of might. 47 And they turned and fled to the wilderness toward Rimmon Rock, six hundred men, and they sat in Rimmon Rock four months. 48 And the men of Israel returned to the sons of Benjamin and struck them down with the sword from city—the dead ones—to beast to every found thing; also all the cities found they burned in the fire.