1 So all the sons of Israel departed, and the whole assembly gathered in unity from Dan to Beersheba and across the land of Gilead before the LORD {YHWH, National Judge} at Mizpah {hamitzpah: assembly site}.
2 And the chiefs {pinnot: chief representatives} of all the people, from every tribe of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God {haelohim: Divine Judge}—four hundred thousand infantrymen drawing the sword.
3 And the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah {mitspah: watchtower stronghold}. Then the sons of Israel said, “Speak! How did this evil {hara’ah: violent crime} take place?”
4 And the Levite {ha-levi: priestly tribe member}, the husband of the murdered woman, answered and said, “My concubine and I came to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to lodge {lalun: stay overnight}.”
5 And the men of Gibeah {ba'alei ha-giv'ah: town inhabitants} rose up against me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they abused my concubine {pilegeshi: concubine}, and she died.
6 And I seized my concubine {pilagsh: secondary wife} and dismembered her, and sent her throughout every territory of Israel's inheritance, because they committed lewdness {zimmah: illicit indulgence} and disgrace in Israel.
7 Behold, all of you, sons of Israel, give here your word {davar: considered resolution} and counsel {etzah: reasoned plan}.
8 And all the people arose as one man and said, “Not one of us will go to his tent {ohel: dwelling shelter}, and not one of us will turn aside to his house {bayit: family home}.”
9 And now this is the matter {davar: formal decree} that we will do to Gibeah; against it we will go by lot {goral: sacred allotment}.
10 And we will take ten men from every hundred of all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from every thousand, and a thousand from every ten thousand, to secure provisions for the people {am: assembled community}, so that they may act when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin according to all the outrage {nevalah: moral disgrace} done in Israel.
11 And all the men of Israel {Yisra'el: covenant community} were gathered against the city as one man, united as companions {chaverim: devoted allies}.
12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the whole tribe {shevet: tribal unit} of Benjamin to say, “What is this evil {hara’ah: moral corruption} that has happened among you?”
13 And now, give the men, sons of worthlessness{beliyaal: utter lawlessness}, who are in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and purge evil{raah: moral corruption} from Israel. But the sons of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.
14 And the sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities {ha’arim: fortified towns} to Gibeah to go out to battle {milchamah: armed conflict} with the sons of Israel.
15 And the sons of Benjamin were mustered {paqad: assembled warriors} on that day from the cities—twenty-six thousand men drawing the sword—apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah; there were mustered seven hundred chosen {bachur: handpicked soldiers}.
16 From all these people there were seven hundred select {bachur: chosen for proficiency} men who were left-handed; each could sling {kolea: expert thrower} a stone at a single hair and still not fail.
17 And the men of Israel assembled {hitpakdu: reflexive muster} apart from Benjamin, four hundred thousand men drawing swords; all these were men of war {milchamah: seasoned fighters}.
18 And they rose and went up to Bethel, and they asked of God {Elohim, Divine Guide}. The sons of Israel said, “Who shall go up first for us in battle against the sons of Benjamin?” And the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Commander} said, “Judah shall go up first.”
19 And the sons of Israel {Yisrael: Covenant People} rose early in the morning and camped near Gibeah {giv'ah: hill-town stronghold}.
20 And the men of Israel went out to battle {milchamah: formal combat} against Benjamin, and the men of Israel arrayed themselves {wayyaarkhu: strategic formation} at Gibeah.
21 And the sons of Benjamin came out from Gibeah and struck down {shachit: destroyed} twenty-two thousand men in Israel on that day to the ground {artzah: laid low}.
22 And the people of Israel strengthened themselves, each man, and they again prepared {arokh: drawn up} for battle in the place where they had arrayed themselves on the first day {yom: divided time}.
23 And the sons of Israel went up and wept before the LORD {YHWH, Covenant LORD} until the evening; and they inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I continue to go up to battle against the sons of Benjamin, my brother {achi: Kinship Bond}?” And the LORD said, “Go up against him.”
24 And the sons of Israel drew near {qarav: tactical advance} to the sons of Benjamin on the second day {hasheni: sequence marking}.
25 And Benjamin {binyamin: tribal defender} went out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day, and again struck down eighteen thousand {shmonat asar elef: precise count} men of the sons of Israel, all these wielders of the sword.
26 Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel, and they wept and sat there before the LORD {YHWH, Worshiped One}. They fasted on that day until evening and offered burnt offerings {olot: ascending sacrifices} and peace offerings before the LORD.
27 And the sons of Israel inquired of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant LORD}, and there was the ark {aron: sacred container} of the covenant {brit: treaty agreement} of God {Elohim, Holy Presence} in those days.
28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aharon, stood before the LORD {YHWH, Divine Judge} in those days, saying, “Shall I go out again to battle the sons of Benjamin, my brother {achi: covenant kinsman}, or shall I cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”
29 And Israel {Yisraʾel: covenant people} set ambushers {orvim: those lying in wait} around Gibeah on every side.
30 And the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day, and they arrayed {vayya'arkhu: organized for battle} themselves against Gibeah as at other times {pa'am: previous occasions}.
31 And the sons of Benjamin went out to meet the people, and they were drawn away from the city. They then began to strike down the slain among the people as before on the roads {masilot: strategic routes}—one of which ascends to Bethel and the other to Gibeah—in the field, about thirty men of Israel {Yisrael: chosen nation}.
32 And the sons of Benjamin said, "They are defeated {niggafim: military defeat} before us as at the first." And the sons of Israel said, "Let us flee and draw them out from the city to the roads {mesilot: main routes}."
33 And all the men of Israel rose from their places and deployed {‘arakhu: battle formation} at Baal Tamar, and the ambush of Israel burst forth from its place, from Ma‘areh-geba {ma’areh-geba: Geba’s open ground}.
34 Ten thousand chosen men from all Israel came against Gibeah {Giv‘ah: Benjamin’s town}, and the battle was heavy {kavedah: fierce intensity}. They did not know that disaster was reaching upon them.
35 And the LORD {YHWH, Divine Judge} struck down Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroyed twenty-five thousand one hundred men in Benjamin on that day, all these wielders of the sword {sholef charev: armed fighters}.
36 And the sons of Benjamin saw that they were struck down, and the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin because they trusted in the ambush {orev: hidden attackers} that they had set at Gibeah {ha-givah: hill-city}.
37 And the ambush {haorev: hidden fighters} hurried and rushed toward Gibeah; then they drew out and struck down the entire city by the edge of the sword {charev: martial blade}.
38 Now the signal {moed: designated sign} between the men of Israel and those lying in ambush was this: they were to raise a great cloud {mas’at: rising smoke-signal} of smoke from the city.
39 And the men of Israel turned in the battle {milchamah: combat engagement}, and Benjamin began to strike down the slain {chalalim: battlefield casualties} among them, about thirty men, for they said, “Surely, they are utterly defeated before us, as in the first battle.”
40 And the signal {mas’et: visible sign} began to ascend from the city—a pillar of smoke—and Benjamin turned back, and behold, the whole city went up toward the heavens {shamaymah: skyward direction}.
41 And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified {vayyibahēl: seized with terror}, for they saw that the disaster {hara’ah: sudden calamity} had come upon them.
42 And they turned before the men of Israel toward the road to the wilderness, and the battle {milchamah: armed conflict} overtook them, and those who came from the cities {he’arim: fortified towns} were destroying them in their midst.
43 They surrounded Binyamin and pursued him. From Menuchah {menuchah: place-name} they trampled him down until opposite Givah toward the sunrise {mizrach-shemesh: eastward direction}.
44 And there fell from Benjamin eighteen thousand men {ish: individual warriors}, and all these were men of valor {chayil: recognized for martial prowess}.
45 And they turned and fled to the wilderness {midbarah: dry wasteland}, to the rock of Rimmon, and they overtook them on the highways, five thousand men {ish: individual warrior}. And they pursued after them as far as Gidom and struck down from them two thousand men.
46 And all the fallen from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men {ish: male warriors} who drew the sword on that day; all these were men of valor {anshei-chayil: proven fighters}.
47 But six hundred men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock {sela: rocky refuge} of Rimmon, and they dwelled at the rock of Rimmon for four months {chodashim: lunar periods}.
48 And the men of Israel returned against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the sword {cherev: Edge of the Sword}—men {metim: Inhabitants} and livestock of each city; then they burned every city they found.