| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the LORD 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. |
| 2And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword. | 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. |
| 3(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?” | 3The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites asked, "Tell us, how did this outrage occur?" |
| 4So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. | 4The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: "I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night. |
| 5And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died. | 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 took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and 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. |
| 7Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!” | 7Look, all of you are Israelites. Give your judgment and verdict here and now." |
| 8So all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house; | 8Then all the people stood united and said, "None of us will go to his tent or return to his house. |
| 9but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot. | 9Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go against it by lot. |
| 10We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have 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." |
| 11So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man. | 11So all the men of Israel gathered united against the city. |
| 12Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness 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 therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel. | 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. |
| 14Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel. | 14Instead, the Benjaminites gathered together from their cities to Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites. |
| 15And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men. | 15On that day the Benjaminites rallied 26,000 armed men from their cities, besides 700 choice men rallied by the inhabitants of Gibeah. |
| 16Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not 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. |
| 17Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war. | 17The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, rallied 400,000 armed men, every one an experienced warrior. |
| 18Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The LORD said, “Judah first!” | 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 children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. | 19In the morning, the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah. |
| 20And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. | 20The men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took their battle positions against Gibeah. |
| 21Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. | 21The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and slaughtered 22,000 men of Israel on the field that day. |
| 22And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. | 22But the Israelite army rallied and again took their battle positions in the same place where they positioned themselves on the first day. |
| 23Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, “Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Go up against him.” | 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 children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. | 24On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites. |
| 25And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the sword. | 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. |
| 26Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. | 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. |
| 27So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, | 27Then the Israelites inquired of the LORD. In those days, the ark of the covenant of God was there, |
| 28and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.” | 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." |
| 29Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. | 29So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah. |
| 30And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. | 30On the third day the Israelites fought against the Benjaminites and took their battle positions against Gibeah as before. |
| 31So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. | 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. |
| 32And the children of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, as at first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” | 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 all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of 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. |
| 34And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. | 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 defeated Benjamin before Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites; all these drew the sword. | 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. |
| 36So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against 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. |
| 37And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword. | 37The men in ambush had rushed quickly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword. |
| 38Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up 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, |
| 39whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” | 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 when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. | 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. |
| 41And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them. | 41Then the men of Israel returned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had struck them. |
| 42Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst. | 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 Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east. | 43They surrounded the Benjaminites, pursued them, and easily overtook them near Gibeah toward the east. |
| 44And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. | 44There were 18,000 men who died from Benjamin; all were warriors. |
| 45Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they cut down five thousand of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Gidom, and killed two thousand of them. | 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. |
| 46So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor. | 46All the Benjaminites who died that day were 25,000 armed men; all were warriors. |
| 47But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. | 47But 600 men escaped into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and stayed there four months. |
| 48And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword—from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to. | 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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