Previous Chapter Full Page Full Page Next Chapter

Judges 20 :: New American Standard Bible 2020 (NASB20)

Resolve to Punish the Guilty

Jdg 20:1

Then all the sons of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the congregation assembled as one person to the LORD at Mizpah.

Jdg 20:2And the [fn]leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot [fn]soldiers who drew the sword.
Jdg 20:3(Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wickedness take place?”
Jdg 20:4So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came with my concubine to spend the night at Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin.
Jdg 20:5“But the [fn]citizens of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night, [fn]threatening me. They intended to kill me; instead, they raped my concubine so that she died.
Jdg 20:6“And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for they have committed an outrageous sin and vile act in Israel.
Jdg 20:7“Behold, all you sons of Israel, give your [fn]response and advice here.”
Jdg 20:8

Then all the people rose up as one person, saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, nor will any of us go home.

Jdg 20:9“But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up against it by lot.
Jdg 20:10“And we will take ten men out of a hundred throughout the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to [fn]supply provisions for the people, so that when they come to [fn]Gibeah of Benjamin, they may [fn]punish them for all the vile sin that they have committed in Israel.”
Jdg 20:11So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, [fn]united as one man.
Jdg 20:12

Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire [fn]tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has taken place among you?

Jdg 20:13“Now then, turn over the men, the [fn]worthless men who are in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.
Jdg 20:14Instead, the sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the sons of Israel.
Jdg 20:15From the cities on that day the sons of Benjamin were [fn]counted, twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were [fn]counted, seven hundred choice men.
Jdg 20:16Out of all these people seven hundred choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Jdg 20:17

Then the men of Israel besides Benjamin were [fn]counted, four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

Civil War, Benjamin Defeated

Jdg 20:18

Now the sons of Israel set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God and said, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then the LORD said, “Judah shall go up first.”

Jdg 20:19

So the sons of Israel got up in the morning and camped against Gibeah.

Jdg 20:20The men of Israel went to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel lined up for battle against them at Gibeah.
Jdg 20:21Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and [fn]struck to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel.
Jdg 20:22But the people, the men of Israel, showed themselves courageous and lined up for battle again in the place where they had lined themselves up on the first day.
Jdg 20:23And the sons of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall we again advance for battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Go up against him.”
Jdg 20:24

So the sons of Israel [fn]came against the sons of Benjamin on the second day.

Jdg 20:25And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah the second day and struck to the ground again eighteen thousand men of the sons of Israel; all of these drew the sword.
Jdg 20:26Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel, and they wept and remained there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
Jdg 20:27And the sons of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
Jdg 20:28and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, Aaron’s son, stood before it to minister in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I stop?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”
Jdg 20:29

So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah.

Jdg 20:30And the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and lined up against Gibeah as at other times.
Jdg 20:31When the sons of Benjamin went out against the people, they were lured away from the city, and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, on the roads (one of which goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah), and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
Jdg 20:32And the sons of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, like the first time.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let’s flee, so that we may draw them away from the city to the roads.”
Jdg 20:33Then all the men of Israel rose from their place and lined up at Baal-tamar; and the men of Israel in ambush charged from their place, from Maareh-geba.
Jdg 20:34When ten thousand choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle became [fn]fierce; but [fn]Benjamin did not know that disaster was [fn]close to them.
Jdg 20:35And the LORD struck Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that [fn]day, all who drew the sword.
Jdg 20:36

So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were [fn]defeated. When the men of Israel gave [fn]ground to Benjamin because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah,

Jdg 20:37the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush also deployed and struck all the city with the edge of the sword.
Jdg 20:38Now the agreed sign between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city.
Jdg 20:39Then the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, for they said, “Undoubtedly they are [fn]defeated before us, as in the first battle.”
Jdg 20:40But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, Benjamin looked behind them; and behold, the entire city was going up in smoke to heaven.
Jdg 20:41Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified; for they saw that disaster was [fn]close to them.
Jdg 20:42Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel to flee in the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them while those who attacked from the cities were annihilating them in the midst of them.
Jdg 20:43They surrounded Benjamin, pursued them without rest, and trampled them down opposite Gibeah toward the [fn]east.
Jdg 20:44So eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all of these were valiant men.
Jdg 20:45[fn]The rest turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, but they [fn]caught five thousand of them on the roads and overtook them [fn]at Gidom, and [fn]killed two thousand of them.
Jdg 20:46So all those of Benjamin who fell that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were valiant men.
Jdg 20:47But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months.
Jdg 20:48The men of Israel then turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.
NASB20 Footnotes
Lit cornerstones
Lit men
Or landowners
Lit against me
Lit word
Lit take
Heb Geba
Lit do
Lit companions as
Lit tribes
Lit sons of Belial
Or mustered
Or mustered
Or mustered
Lit destroyed
Lit approached
Lit heavy
Lit they
Lit touching
Lit day; all these drew
Lit struck
Lit place
Lit struck
Lit touching
Lit sunrise
As in LXX; Heb And they
Lit gleaned
Lit as far as
Lit struck
Translation Copyright Logo

New American Standard Bible 2020
Copyright (c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved
https://www.lockman.org/new-american-standard-bible-nasb/

The "NASB," "NAS," "New American Standard Bible," and "New American Standard" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by The Lockman Foundation. Use of these trademarks requires the permission of The Lockman Foundation.

For Permission To Quote visit http://www.lockman.org

For more information on this translation, see the NASB20 Preface.

Judges Chapter 20 — Additional Translations: