King James Version › Judges › 20

Judges

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1 Then all the chil­dren of Is­rael went out, and the con­gre­ga­tion was gath­ered to­geth­er as one man, from Dan even to Beer­she­ba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh. 2 And the chief of all the peo­ple, even of all the tribes of Is­rael, pre­sent­ed them­selves in the as­sem­bly of the peo­ple of God, four hun­dred thou­sand foot­men that drew sword. 3 (Now the chil­dren of Ben­jamin heard that the chil­dren of Is­rael were gone up to Mizpeh. ) Then said the chil­dren of Is­rael, Tell us, how was this wicked­ness? 4 And the Levite, the hus­band of the wom­an that was slain, an­swered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Ben­jamin, I and my con­cu­bine, to lodge. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and be­set the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my con­cu­bine have they forced, that she is dead. 6 And I took my con­cu­bine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her through­out all the coun­try of the in­her­i­tance of Is­rael: for they have com­mit­ted lewd­ness and fol­ly in Is­rael. 7 Be­hold, ye are all chil­dren of Is­rael; give here your ad­vice and coun­sel. 8 And all the peo­ple arose as one man, say­ing, We will not any of us go to his tent, nei­ther will we any of us turn into his house. 9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; 10 And we will take ten men of an hun­dred through­out all the tribes of Is­rael, and an hun­dred of a thou­sand, and a thou­sand out of ten thou­sand, to fetch vict­ual for the peo­ple, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Ben­jamin, ac­cord­ing to all the fol­ly that they have wrought in Is­rael. 11 So all the men of Is­rael were gath­ered against the city, knit to­geth­er as one man. 12 And the tribes of Is­rael sent men through all the tribe of Ben­jamin, say­ing, What wicked­ness is this that is done among you? 13 Now there­fore de­liv­er us the men, the chil­dren of Be­lial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Is­rael. But the chil­dren of Ben­jamin would not hear­ken to the voice of their brethren the chil­dren of Is­rael: 14 But the chil­dren of Ben­jamin gath­ered them­selves to­geth­er out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to bat­tle against the chil­dren of Is­rael. 15 And the chil­dren of Ben­jamin were num­bered at that time out of the cities twen­ty and six thou­sand men that drew sword, be­side the in­hab­i­tants of Gibeah, which were num­bered sev­en hun­dred cho­sen men. 16 Among all this peo­ple there were sev­en hun­dred cho­sen men left­hand­ed; ev­ery one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. 17 And the men of Is­rael, be­side Ben­jamin, were num­bered four hun­dred thou­sand men that drew sword: all these were men of war. 18 And the chil­dren of Is­rael arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked coun­sel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the bat­tle against the chil­dren of Ben­jamin? And the LORD said, Ju­dah shall go up first. 19 And the chil­dren of Is­rael rose up in the morn­ing, and en­camped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Is­rael went out to bat­tle against Ben­jamin; and the men of Is­rael put them­selves in ar­ray to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 And the chil­dren of Ben­jamin came forth out of Gibeah, and de­stroyed down to the ground of the Is­raelites that day twen­ty and two thou­sand men. 22 And the peo­ple the men of Is­rael en­cour­aged them­selves, and set their bat­tle again in ar­ray in the place where they put them­selves in ar­ray the first day. 23 (And the chil­dren of Is­rael went up and wept be­fore the LORD un­til even, and asked coun­sel of the LORD, say­ing, Shall I go up again to bat­tle against the chil­dren of Ben­jamin my broth­er? And the LORD said, Go up against him.) 24 And the chil­dren of Is­rael came near against the chil­dren of Ben­jamin the sec­ond day. 25 And Ben­jamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the sec­ond day, and de­stroyed down to the ground of the chil­dren of Is­rael again eigh­teen thou­sand men; all these drew the sword. 26 Then all the chil­dren of Is­rael, and all the peo­ple, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there be­fore the LORD, and fast­ed that day un­til even, and of­fered burnt of­fer­ings and peace of­fer­ings be­fore the LORD. 27 And the chil­dren of Is­rael en­quired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 And 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 Ben­jamin my broth­er, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to mor­row I will de­liv­er them into thine hand. 29 And Is­rael set liers in wait round about Gibeah. 30 And the chil­dren of Is­rael went up against the chil­dren of Ben­jamin on the third day, and put them­selves in ar­ray against Gibeah, as at oth­er times. 31 And the chil­dren of Ben­jamin went out against the peo­ple, and were drawn away from the city; and they be­gan to smite of the peo­ple, and kill, as at oth­er times, in the high­ways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the oth­er to Gibeah in the field, about thir­ty men of Is­rael. 32 And the chil­dren of Ben­jamin said, They are smit­ten down be­fore us, as at the first. But the chil­dren of Is­rael said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the high­ways. 33 And all the men of Is­rael rose up out of their place, and put them­selves in ar­ray at Baal­ta­mar: and the liers in wait of Is­rael came forth out of their places, even out of the mead­ows of Gibeah. 34 And there came against Gibeah ten thou­sand cho­sen men out of all Is­rael, and the bat­tle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them. 35 And the LORD smote Ben­jamin be­fore Is­rael: and the chil­dren of Is­rael de­stroyed of the Ben­jamites that day twen­ty and five thou­sand and an hun­dred men: all these drew the sword. 36 So the chil­dren of Ben­jamin saw that they were smit­ten: for the men of Is­rael gave place to the Ben­jamites, be­cause they trust­ed unto the liers in wait which they had set be­side Gibeah. 37 And the liers in wait hast­ed, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now there was an ap­point­ed sign be­tween the men of Is­rael and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city. 39 And when the men of Is­rael re­tired in the bat­tle, Ben­jamin be­gan to smite and kill of the men of Is­rael about thir­ty per­sons: for they said, Sure­ly they are smit­ten down be­fore us, as in the first bat­tle. 40 But when the flame be­gan to arise up out of the city with a pil­lar of smoke, the Ben­jamites looked be­hind them, and, be­hold, the flame of the city as­cend­ed up to heav­en. 41 And when the men of Is­rael turned again, the men of Ben­jamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them. 42 There­fore they turned their backs be­fore the men of Is­rael unto the way of the wilder­ness; but the bat­tle over­took them; and them which came out of the cities they de­stroyed in the midst of them. 43 Thus they in­closed the Ben­jamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah to­ward the sun­ris­ing. 44 And there fell of Ben­jamin eigh­teen thou­sand men; all these were men of val­our. 45 And they turned and fled to­ward the wilder­ness unto the rock of Rim­mon: and they gleaned of them in the high­ways five thou­sand men; and pur­sued hard af­ter them unto Gidom, and slew two thou­sand men of them. 46 So that all which fell that day of Ben­jamin were twen­ty and five thou­sand men that drew the sword; all these were men of val­our. 47 But six hun­dred men turned and fled to the wilder­ness unto the rock Rim­mon, and abode in the rock Rim­mon four months. 48 And the men of Is­rael turned again upon the chil­dren of Ben­jamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.