| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard 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. | 1All the Israelites from Dan to Beer-sheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the community assembled as one body 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 of all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God's people: 400,000 armed foot soldiers. |
| 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?" | 3The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites asked, "Tell us, how did this outrage occur?" |
| 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. | 4The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: "I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine 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. | 5Citizens of Gibeah ganged up on me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, but they raped 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 and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout Israel's territory, because they committed a horrible shame in Israel. |
| 7So look, all you Israelis! Speak up and give us your advice!" | 7Look, all of you are Israelites. Give your judgment 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 united and said, "None of us will go to his tent or return 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 by lot. |
| 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 10 men out of every 100 from all the tribes of Israel, and 100 out of every 1,000, and 1,000 out of every 10,000 to get provisions for the people when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for all the horror they did 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 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? | 12Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What is this outrage 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 perverted men in Gibeah so we can put them to death and eradicate evil from Israel." But the Benjaminites would not obey their fellow Israelites. |
| 14so the descendants of Benjamin assembled from the cities of Gibeah to fight the Israelis in battle. | 14Instead, the Benjaminites gathered together from their cities to 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 Benjaminites rallied 26,000 armed men from their cities, besides 700 choice men rallied by the inhabitants 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. | 16There were 700 choice men who were left-handed among all these people; all could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. |
| 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, rallied 400,000 armed men, every 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." | 18They set out, went to Bethel, and inquired of God. The Israelites asked, "Who is to go first to fight for us against the Benjaminites?" And the LORD answered, "Judah will be first." |
| 19So the Israelis got up in the morning, encamped near Gibeah, | 19In the 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. | 20The men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took their battle positions against Gibeah. |
| 21The descendants of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and 22,000 soldiers of Israel fell in battle that day. | 21The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and slaughtered 22,000 men of Israel on the field 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 rallied and again took their battle positions in the same place where they positioned 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, wept before the LORD until evening, and inquired of Him: "Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites?" And the LORD answered: "Fight against them." |
| 24So the Israelis attacked the descendants of Benjamin for a second day, | 24On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites. |
| 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 Benjaminites came out from Gibeah to meet them and slaughtered an additional 18,000 Israelites on the field; all were armed men. |
| 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. | 26The whole Israelite army went to Bethel where they wept and sat before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. |
| 27The Israelis inquired of the LORD, since the Ark of the Covenant was there at that time | 27Then 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, son of Aaron, was serving before it. The Israelites asked: "Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites or should we stop?" The LORD answered: "Fight, because I will hand them over to you tomorrow." |
| 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 fought against the Benjaminites and took their battle positions against Gibeah as 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. | 31Then the Benjaminites came out against the people and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about 30 men of Israel on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah through the open country. |
| 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." | 32The Benjaminites said, "We are defeating them as before." But the Israelites said, "Let's flee and draw them away from the city to the highways." |
| 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 took their battle positions at Baal-tamar, while the Israelites in ambush charged out of their places west of Geba. |
| 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 choice men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was about to strike 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 men of Benjamin; all were armed men. |
| 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 Benjaminites realized they had been defeated. The men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin, because they were confident in 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 had rushed quickly 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 a prearranged 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 return to the battle. When Benjamin had begun to strike them down, killing about 30 men of Israel, they said, "They're defeated before us, just as they were 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, Benjamin looked behind them, and the whole city was 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 returned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had struck 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. | 42They retreated before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities slaughtered those between them. |
| 43They surrounded the army of Benjamin, pursuing them ceaselessly until they defeated them near the east-facing border of Gibeah. | 43They surrounded the Benjaminites, pursued them, and easily overtook them near Gibeah toward the east. |
| 44That's how 18,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin fell in battle, all of whom were valiant soldiers. | 44There were 18,000 men who died from Benjamin; all were warriors. |
| 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 Benjamin turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel killed 5,000 men on the highways. They overtook them at Gidom and struck 2,000 more dead. |
| 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. | 46All the Benjaminites who died that day were 25,000 armed men; all were warriors. |
| 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 escaped into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and stayed there 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. | 48The men of Israel turned back against the other Benjaminites and killed them with their swords--the entire city, the animals, and everything that remained. They also burned down all the cities that remained. |
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