²⁹Then Israel hid some men and had them wait all around Gibeah. ³⁰They went up to fight against the men of Benjamin on the third day. They took up their positions against Gibeah, just as they had done before.

³¹The men of Benjamin came out to fight against them. They were drawn away from the city. They began to wound and kill the men of Israel just as they had done before. About 30 men fell in battle. They fell in the open fields and on the roads. One of the roads led to Bethel. The other led to Gibeah.

³²The men of Benjamin said, “We’re winning the battle over them, just as we did before.”

But the men of Israel said, “Let’s pull back. Let’s draw them away from the city to the roads.”

³³All of the men of Israel moved away from their places. They took up new battle positions at Baal Tamar. The men who had been hiding charged out. They came from west of Gibeah.

³⁴Then 10,000 of Israel’s finest men attacked Gibeah. The men of Benjamin didn’t realize they were about to be destroyed. The fighting was very heavy.

³⁵The Lord helped Israel win the battle over Benjamin. On that day the men of Israel struck down 25,100 men of Benjamin. All of the men who died had been carrying swords. ³⁶Then the men of Benjamin saw that they had lost the battle.

The men of Israel had moved away from their positions in front of Benjamin. They had depended on the men they had hidden near Gibeah. ³⁷Suddenly the men who had been hiding rushed into Gibeah. They spread out. Then they killed everyone in the city with their swords.

³⁸The men of Israel had made a plan with those who had been hiding. They had told them to send up a large cloud of smoke from the city.

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