The FarAboveAll translation of the Old Testament from the Masoretic Hebrew and Aramaic (WLC). See details on www.FarAboveAll.com.

Version 0.35.76, 26 August 2024

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Judges Chapter 20

1Then all the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation assembled in unanimity from Dan to Beersheba and the land of Gilead, to the Lord in Mizpah. 2And the key men of all the people – of all the tribes of Israel – stood up in the convocation of the people of God, four hundred thousand infantrymen who drew the sword. 3Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. And the sons of Israel said, “Explain how this wickedness came about.” 4And the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered and said, “I and my concubine arrived in Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to lodge there. 5And the inhabitants of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house on me by night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine, and she died. 6So I took hold of my concubine, and I cut her in pieces, and I dispersed her into all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they committed depravity and immorality in Israel. 7Behold, you are all sons of Israel. Give your verdict and counsel here.” 8And all the people arose unanimously and said, “Not one of us will go to his tent, and not one of us will turn in to his house. 9For now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah, against it, by lot: 10we will take ten men per hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred per thousand, and one thousand per ten thousand, to take provisions for the people, for them to do to Geba of Benjamin when they arrive there what they deserve for all the immorality which they did in Israel.” 11So every man of Israel gathered against the city, unanimously, in league. 12And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout all the tribes of Benjamin, and they said, “What is this evil act which has taken place among you? 13So now, hand over the good-for-nothing men who are in Gibeah so that we can put them to death and eradicate evil from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin were not willing to comply with their brothers, the sons of Israel. 14Then the sons of Benjamin gathered together in Gibeah from the cities so as to go out to war against the sons of Israel. 15And the sons of Benjamin were counted on that day, from the cities, as twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah who were counted: seven hundred choice men. 16From all this people there were seven hundred choice men who were left-handed. Each of these could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17And each man of Israel was counted, apart from Benjamin: four hundred thousand men who drew the sword. All these were men of war. 18And they arose and went up to Beth-El, and they inquired of God, and the sons of Israel said, “Which of us should go up first into battle against the sons of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Judah will go up first.” 19Then the sons of Israel arose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew themselves up for battle against them in Gibeah. 21And the sons of Benjamin went out from Gibeah and dispatched twenty-two thousand men of Israel to the ground on that day. 22But the people – the men of Israel – encouraged themselves and drew up for battle again in the place where they had drawn up on the first day. 23And the sons of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and they inquired of the Lord and said, “Should I again engage in battle the sons of Benjamin my brother?” And the Lord said, “Go up against him.” 24And the sons of Israel engaged the sons of Benjamin on the second day. 25And Benjamin came out from Gibeah to confront them on the second day, and they dispatched another eighteen thousand men among the sons of Israel to the ground, all these drawing the sword. 26Then all the sons of Israel went up with all the people, and they came to Beth-El, and they wept, and they sat there before the Lord, and they fasted on that day until evening, and they offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord. 27Then the 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, the son of Aaron, was standing before it in those days, and he said, “Should I yet again go out to battle against the sons of Benjamin my brother, or should I cease?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.” 29Then Israel placed men in an ambush around Gibeah. 30And the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day, and they drew up against Gibeah as on previous occasions. 31And the sons of Benjamin came out to confront the people, and they were drawn away from the city, and they began to strike down some of the people dead as on previous occasions, on the highways, one of which goes up to Beth-El, and one to Gibeah in the field – about thirty men of Israel. 32Then the sons of Benjamin said, “They are defeated at our advance as at first.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33And every man of Israel arose from his place, and they drew up in Baal-Tamar, and Israel's ambush burst out of its place – out of the scrubland of Geba. 34And ten thousand choice men from all Israel came opposite Gibeah, and the battle was heavy, but they did not know that a calamity was about to hit them. 35And the Lord struck Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel dispatched twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin on that day – all these drew the sword. 36And the sons of Benjamin saw that they had been defeated, and that the men of Israel had only given way to Benjamin because they relied on the ambush which they had placed in Gibeah. 37And the ambush hastened and invaded Gibeah, and the ambush drew up and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38Now there was an agreed signal between the men of Israel and the ambush: they would make smoke rise profusely from the city. 39When the men of Israel retreated in the battle, Benjamin began to strike some dead among the men of Israel, about thirty men, for they said, “Surely he has been defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40But when the rising signal began to rise from the city – a column of smoke – Benjamin turned round, and what they saw was that the whole city was going up into the sky. 41Then the men of Israel turned round, and the men of Benjamin were terrified, because they saw that a calamity had struck them. 42And they turned in front of the men of Israel to the road to the desert, but the battle caught up with them, and Israel dispatched whoever was from the cities in their midst. 43They surrounded Benjamin, they pursued them, they trod them down with ease all the way to just outside Gibeah on the east. 44And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell – all of these being valiant men. 45Then they turned and fled to the desert, to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel gleaned five thousand of their men on the highways, and they pursued them to Gidom, and they struck down two thousand of their men. 46And all the fallen of Benjamin amounted to twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword on that day – all of these being valiant men. 47And they turned and fled to the desert, to the rock of Rimmon – six hundred men – and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48So the men of Israel turned on the sons of Benjamin and struck them down with the edge of the sword from the entire city, including the cattle and everything found there. And they also set all the cities they found on fire.
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