Israel’s civil war council
1Israel called a war council, and the Israelites came from everywhere in the region. They came from Dan’s tribe [1] on Israel’s northern border to the town of Beersheba in the southern desert. They met at the town of Mizpah [2] in a sacred meeting. 2Tribal leaders took their places at the meeting. They came with a total of 400,000 armed warriors.3People in Benjamin’s tribe heard about the meeting at Mizpah. Israelites at the meeting asked, “How did this crime happen?”
4The Levite whose wife had been murdered said, “I went to Gibeah, a town in Benjamin’s tribe. I went there with my concubine to spend the night and move on. 5Men of the town came after me that night. They surrounded the house where we were staying. They planned to kill me. And they did kill my concubine—they raped her to death.
6I took her body home, cut it into pieces, and sent the pieces throughout Israel’s territory. What those men of Gibeah did was vile and evil. 7So here we are, meeting to consider what to do about it. What do you think?” Israel declares war on fellow Israelites 8Israelites there agreed, “We’re not going home. None of us. 9We’re going to choose at random [3] who attacks Gibeah. 10We’ll put one tenth of the men on a supply detail. They’ll get the food we’ll need. The rest of the army will punish Gibeah for what their men did by polluting Israel. It was shameless.
11The tribal warriors formed an army, united against Gibeah. 12Israel’s army sent messengers to Benjamin’s tribe asking, “What happened? How could you let your men commit a sick and disgusting crime like this? 13Give us the men who committed this horrible crime. We’re going to execute them. They’ve polluted Israel and we’re going to clean up this mess.” Benjamin’s people refused. They wouldn’t listen to their fellow Israelites.
Benjamin tribe musters an army
14Instead, Benjamin’s men rallied at Gibeah to fight the other Israelite tribes. 15Benjamin’s army numbered 26,000 armed men. They came from cities throughout the tribe’s territory.16Their army included an elite force of slingers—700 left-handed men who could sling a stone at hair and give it a haircut. They never missed. 17The opposing Israelites produced an army fifteen times larger: 400,000 armed men, every one a warrior.
Asking God for advice
18The invading Israelites decided to go to nearby Bethel [4] to ask God, “Which tribe should attack Benjamin first?” The LORD said, “Judah goes first.” 19The next morning, the tribes of Israel took up positions outside Gibeah. 20They arranged their warriors into battle formations. Israel’s first lost battle 21Benjamin’s warriors attacked from Gibeah and killed 22,000 opposing Israelites. 22The Israelites went back to Bethel, where they had been the day before.23They went there to mourn the men who died and the battle they lost. They stayed all day, until evening. They asked the LORD, “Should we keep fighting our people from Benjamin?” The LORD said, “Go and fight them.”
Israel’s second loss
24Israel’s coalition army of tribes advanced toward Gibeah for a second day of battle. 25Again, Benjamin attacked from Gibeah. They killed another 18,000 armed Israelite fighters.26This time the entire Israelite army went back to Bethel. They cried and fasted—skipping food until sunset. Then they sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings [5] to the LORD. 27Israelites again took their question to the LORD. The box [6] that held the Ten Commandments was there at the time. [7] 28Phinehas was Israel’s priest. He was the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron. Israelites asked the LORD, “Should we attack our people of Benjamin again, or stop fighting?” The LORD said, “Go again. I’ll give them to you this time.”
Final battle for Gibeah
29Israelites set up an ambush this time. 30The rest of the army took up positions outside Gibeah like they had done before.31This time when Benjamin’s men attacked, Israelites drew them further away from the city. At first, Benjamin got the upper hand, as before. They killed about 30 Israelites along the main roads, including one road that led up to Bethel, one to Gibeah, and one to the open countryside.
32Benjamin’s fighters said, “We’re doing it again. Crushing them.” The opposing Israelites said, “Let’s pull back and draw them away from the city, toward the roads.” 33So, Israelites fell back to Baal-tamar. [8] That’s when Israelites hiding in ambush west of Geba [9] attacked.
34Ten thousand of Israel’s best warriors rushed into what became a fierce battle. Benjamin’s warriors didn’t know what hit them. 35The LORD defeated Benjamin that day. Israelites killed 25,100 armed men of Benjamin. 36People of Benjamin realized they had lost the battle. Opposing Israelites had pulled back their battle lines on purpose, to draw out Benjamin’s fighters. This opened a path for Israelites who had been hiding in ambush to attack the city of Gibeah.
Israelites burn Gibeah
37Israelites swarmed into Gibeah and killed everyone inside. 38Before the battle, Israelites had agreed that once the ambushers took the city, they would signal the main attack force with a cloud of smoke from inside Gibeah.39Then, the main force that had been retreating would turn and attack Benjamin’s army. By then, Benjamin’s men had killed about 30 Israelites. And they were saying, “We’re doing it again. We’re going to defeat them like we did before.” 40But that changed the moment they saw smoke rising above the city behind them and realized Gibeah was on fire.
41That’s when the retreating Israelites turned on Benjamin and attacked. Benjamin’s stunned warriors realized they were about to die. 42They ran for their lives toward the desert. But the opposing Israelites ran them down and killed them, along with anyone inside the city who tried to escape. 43Attacking Israelites cut off Benjamin’s escape routes, chased the fleeing warriors, and then caught the last of them east of Gibeah as they ran for the desert wasteland.
Body count
44That day, 18,000 brave warriors of Benjamin died on the battlefields. 45Another 5,000 died running toward Rimmon Rock in the desert. And another 2,000 died when Israelites caught up with them near Gidom. [10]46In all, Benjamin lost 25,000 armed warriors that day. Every one of them brave. 47Another 600 men escaped to Rimmon Rock in the desert. They hid there four months. 48In the meantime, opposing Israelites went back to Benjamin’s territory. They traveled from town to town, burning each city and killing all the people and their animals. [11]
