^20:20The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they³⁷ arranged their battle lines against Gibeah. ^20:21The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day.³⁸

^20:22The Israelite army³⁹ took heart⁴⁰ and once more arranged their battle lines, in the same place where they had taken their positions the day before. ^20:23The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we⁴¹ again march out to fight⁴² the Benjaminites, our brothers?”⁴³ The Lord said, “Attack them!”⁴⁴^20:24So the Israelites marched toward⁴⁵ the Benjaminites the next day. ^20:25The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers.⁴⁶

^20:26So all the Israelites, the whole army,⁴⁷ went up to⁴⁸ Bethel.⁴⁹ They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything⁵⁰ that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace⁵¹ to the Lord. ^20:27The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days; ^20:28Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the Lord⁵² in those days), “Should we⁵³ once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers,⁵⁴ or should we⁵⁵ quit?” The Lord said, “Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them⁵⁶ over to you.”

^20:29So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah. ^20:30The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day;⁵⁷ they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before. ^20:31The Benjaminites attacked⁵⁸ the army, leaving the city unguarded.⁵⁹ They began to strike down their enemy⁶⁰ just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel,⁶¹ the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down⁶² about thirty Israelites. ^20:32Then the Benjaminites said, “They are defeated just as before.” But the Israelites said, “Let’s retreat⁶³ and lure them⁶⁴ away from the city into the main roads.”

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Footnotes

37 Heb “the men of Israel.” The noun phrase has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
38 Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men to the ground.”
39 Heb “The people, the men of Israel.”
40 Or “encouraged one another.”
41 Heb “I” (collective singular).
42 Heb “approach for battle.”
43 Heb “my brother” (collective singular).
44 Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).
45 Heb “drew near to.”
46 Heb “And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day, and they struck down among the sons of Israel eighteen thousand men to the ground, all of these were wielding the sword.”
47 Heb “and all the people.”
48 Heb “went up and came [to].”
49 For location see ; ; ; ; .
50 Traditionally, “fasted.”
51 Or “peace offerings.”
52 Heb “standing before him.”
53 Heb “I” (collective singular).
54 Heb “my brother” (collective singular).
55 Heb “I” (collective singular).
56 Heb “him” (collective singular).
57 Heb “the third day.”
58 Heb “went out to meet.”
59 Heb “and they were drawn away from the city.”
60 Heb “from the army wounded ones.”
61 For location see ; ; ; ; .
62 The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
63 Or “run away.”
64 Heb “him” (collective singular).