Judges 20:18–24

18 The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?”

The Lord replied, “Judah shall go first.”

19 The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. 20 The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21 The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. 22 But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and they inquired of the Lord. They said, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”

The Lord answered, “Go up against them.”

24 Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day.

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.

18 Before the battle the Israelites went to Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should go first to attack the people of Benjamin?”

The Lord answered, “Judah is to go first.”

19 So the Israelites left early the next morning and camped near Gibeah. 20 Then they advanced toward Gibeah to attack the men of Benjamin. 21 But Benjamin’s warriors, who were defending the town, came out and killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.

22 But the Israelites encouraged each other and took their positions again at the same place they had fought the previous day. 23 For they had gone up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the Lord until evening. They had asked the Lord, “Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again?”

And the Lord had said, “Go out and fight against them.”

24 So the next day they went out again to fight against the men of Benjamin,

18 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?”

The Lord said, “Judah first!”

19 So the children of Israel rose 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 battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. 22 And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. 23 Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, “Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?”

And the Lord said, “Go up against him.”

24 So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day.

18 The Israelites went up to the city of Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe shall be first to attack the Benjaminites?”

The Lord answered, “Judah shall go first.”

19 The next morning the Israelites got up and made a camp near Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjaminites and took their battle position at Gibeah. 21 Then the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and killed 22,000 Israelites during the battle that day. 22 The Israelites went before the Lord and cried until evening. They asked the Lord, “Shall we go to fight our relatives, the Benjaminites, again?”

The Lord answered, “Go up and fight them.” The men of Israel encouraged each other. So they took the same battle positions they had taken the first day.

24 The Israelites came to fight the Benjaminites the second day.

18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah 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 set the battle in array against them at Gibeah. 21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on that day twenty and two thousand men. 22 And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day. 23 And the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even; and they asked of Jehovah, saying, Shall I again draw nigh to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up against him.

24 And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.

18 And the children of Israel arose and went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah 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 went forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty-two thousand men. 22 And the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and set the 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 Jehovah until even, and inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up against him. 24 And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.

18 The men of Israel went to Bethel. They asked God, “Who will go first to fight Benjamin?” 

The Lord answered, “Judah will go first.” 

19 The Israelites got up early in the morning and camped at Gibeah. 20 So the men of Israel went to war with the men of Benjamin. The Israelites formed their battle line facing Gibeah. 21 That day the men of Benjamin came out from Gibeah. They slaughtered 22,000 of Israel’s men. 

22 But Israel’s troops got reinforcements. They formed their battle line where they had formed it on the first day. 23 The Israelites went and cried in the presence of the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we continue to wage war against our close relatives, the men of Benjamin?” 

The Lord answered, “Go fight them!” 

24 On the second day the Israelite troops advanced against Benjamin.

18 They set out, went to Bethel, and inquired of God. The Israelites asked, “Who is to go first to fight for us against the Benjaminites?”

And the Lord answered, “Judah will be first.”

19 In the morning, the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took their battle positions against Gibeah. 21 The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and slaughtered 22,000 men of Israel on the field that day. 22 But the Israelite army rallied and again took their battle positions in the same place where they positioned themselves on the first day. 23 They went up, wept before the Lord until evening, and inquired of Him: “Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites?”

And the Lord answered: “Fight against them.”

24 On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites.

18 The Israelites proceeded to go up to Bethel, where they inquired of God, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjaminites?” And the Lord answered, “Judah shall go up first.”

19 Then the Israelites got up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 The Israelites went out to battle against Benjamin, and the Israelites drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah. 21 The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and struck down on that day twenty-two thousand of the Israelites. 23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until the evening, and they inquired of the Lord, “Shall we again draw near to battle against our kinsfolk the Benjaminites?” And the Lord said, “Go up against them.” 22 The Israelites strengthened themselves and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.

24 So the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites the second day.

18 Then the Israelites got up and went up to Bethel, and they inquired of God, saying, “Who will go up first for the battle against the descendants of Benjamin?” And Yahweh said, “Judah will go first.” 19 And the Israelites got up in the morning, and they encamped against Gibeah. 20 Then the men of Israel marched out for the battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel took up positions against them for battle at Gibeah. 21 The descendants of Benjamin went out from Gibeah, and they struck down on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel to the ground. 22 But the troops, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and again they arranged their battle lines in the place where they had arranged themselves the first day. 23 The Israelites went up and wept before Yahweh until evening and inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should we again draw near from the battle against the descendants of Benjamin, our relatives?” And Yahweh said, “Go up against them.”

24 And the Israelites drew near to the descendants of Benjamin on the second day.

18 The people of Israel went up to Bethel. There they spoke to God. They asked him, “Who will go up first and fight for us against the people of Benjamin?”

The Lord answered, “The tribe of Judah will go first.”

19 The next morning the people of Israel got up. They set up camp near Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went out to fight against the men of Benjamin. They took up their battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21 The men of Benjamin came out of Gibeah. They killed 22,000 men of Israel on the field of battle that day. 22 But the men of Israel cheered each other on. They again took up their positions in the places where they had been the first day.

23 The men of Israel went and sobbed in the sight of the Lord until evening. They spoke to the Lord. They asked, “Should we go up again to fight against the men of Benjamin? They are our fellow Israelites.”

The Lord answered, “Go up and fight against them.”

24 The men of Israel came near the men of Benjamin on the second day.

18 Now the sons of Israel arose, 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.”

19 So the sons of Israel arose in the morning and camped against Gibeah.

20 The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel arrayed for battle against them at Gibeah.

21 Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and felled to the ground on that day 22,000 men of Israel.

22 But the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and arrayed for battle again in the place where they had arrayed themselves the first day.

23 The sons of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall we again draw near for battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against him.”

24 Then the sons of Israel came against the sons of Benjamin the second day.