Judges 20 :: New English Translation (NET)

Resolve to Punish the Guilty

Jdg 20:1All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba and from the land of Gilead left their homes and assembled together before the LORD at Mizpah.

Jdg 20:2

Jdg 20:2The leaders of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God's people, which numbered four hundred thousand sword-wielding foot soldiers.

Jdg 20:3

Jdg 20:3The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, "Explain how this wicked thing happened!"

Jdg 20:4

Jdg 20:4The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, "I and my concubine stopped in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.

Jdg 20:5

Jdg 20:5The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.

Jdg 20:6

Jdg 20:6I grabbed hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces throughout the territory occupied by Israel, because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity in Israel.

Jdg 20:7

Jdg 20:7All you Israelites, make a decision here!"

Jdg 20:8

Jdg 20:8All Israel rose up in unison and said, "Not one of us will go home! Not one of us will return to his house!

Jdg 20:9

Jdg 20:9Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will attack the city as the lot dictates.

Jdg 20:10

Jdg 20:10We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army. When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel."

Jdg 20:11

Jdg 20:11So all the men of Israel gathered together at the city as allies.

Jdg 20:12

Jdg 20:12The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "How could such a wicked thing take place?

Jdg 20:13

Jdg 20:13Now, hand over the good-for-nothings in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness." But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.

Jdg 20:14

Jdg 20:14The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war against the Israelites.

Jdg 20:15

Jdg 20:15That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers, besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from Gibeah.

Jdg 20:16

Jdg 20:16Among this army were seven hundred specially-trained left-handed soldiers. Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target.

Jdg 20:17

Jdg 20:17The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior.

Civil War, Benjamin Defeated

Jdg 20:18

Jdg 20:18The Israelites went up to Bethel and asked God, "Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?" The LORD said, "Judah should lead."

Jdg 20:19

Jdg 20:19The Israelites got up the next morning and moved against Gibeah.

Jdg 20:20

Jdg 20:20The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they arranged their battle lines against Gibeah.

Jdg 20:21

Jdg 20:21The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day.

Jdg 20:22

Jdg 20:22The Israelite army took heart and once more arranged their battle lines, in the same place where they had taken their positions the day before.

Jdg 20:23

Jdg 20:23The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening. They asked the LORD, "Should we again march out to fight the Benjaminites, our brothers?" The LORD said, "Attack them!"

Jdg 20:24

Jdg 20:24So the Israelites marched toward the Benjaminites the next day.

Jdg 20:25

Jdg 20:25The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers.

Jdg 20:26

Jdg 20:26So all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They wept and sat there before the LORD; they did not eat anything that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace to the LORD.

Jdg 20:27

Jdg 20:27The Israelites asked the LORD (for the ark of God's covenant was there in those days;

Jdg 20:28

Jdg 20:28Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the LORD in those days), "Should we once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers, or should we quit?" The LORD said, "Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you."

Jdg 20:29

Jdg 20:29So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah.

Jdg 20:30

Jdg 20:30The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day; they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before.

Jdg 20:31

Jdg 20:31The Benjaminites attacked the army, leaving the city unguarded. They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down about thirty Israelites.

Jdg 20:32

Jdg 20:32Then the Benjaminites said, "They are defeated just as before." But the Israelites said, "Let's retreat and lure them away from the city into the main roads."

Jdg 20:33

Jdg 20:33All the men of Israel got up from their places and took their positions at Baal Tamar, while the Israelites hiding in ambush jumped out of their places west of Gibeah.

Jdg 20:34

Jdg 20:34Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah - the battle was fierce. But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep.

Jdg 20:35

Jdg 20:35The LORD annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites.

Jdg 20:36

Jdg 20:36Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated. The Israelites retreated before Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah.

Jdg 20:37

Jdg 20:37The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city.

Jdg 20:38

Jdg 20:38The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal. When the men hiding in ambush sent up a smoke signal from the city,

Jdg 20:39

Jdg 20:39the Israelites counterattacked. Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; they struck down about thirty men. They said, "There's no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle."

Jdg 20:40

Jdg 20:40But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky.

Jdg 20:41

Jdg 20:41When the Israelites turned around, the Benjaminites panicked because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep.

Jdg 20:42

Jdg 20:42They retreated before the Israelites, taking the road to the wilderness. But the battle overtook them as men from the surrounding cities struck them down.

Jdg 20:43

Jdg 20:43They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, and annihilated them all the way to a spot east of Geba.

Jdg 20:44

Jdg 20:44Eighteen thousand Benjaminites, all of them capable warriors, fell dead.

Jdg 20:45

Jdg 20:45The rest turned and ran toward the wilderness, heading toward the cliff of Rimmon. But the Israelites caught five thousand of them on the main roads. They stayed right on their heels all the way to Gidom and struck down two thousand more.

Jdg 20:46

Jdg 20:46That day twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors.

Jdg 20:47

Jdg 20:47Six hundred survivors turned and ran away to the wilderness, to the cliff of Rimmon. They stayed there four months.

Jdg 20:48

Jdg 20:48The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path.

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Judges Chapter 20 — Additional Translations:

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Judges 20 :: New English Translation (NET)

Resolve to Punish the Guilty

Civil War, Benjamin Defeated

Pericope

Judges Chapter 20 — Additional Translations:

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