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. ³⁹Then the men of Israel would turn around and attack.

The men of Benjamin had begun to wound and kill the men of Israel. They had struck down about 30 of them. They had said, “We’re winning the battle over them, just as we did the first time.”

⁴⁰But a column of smoke began to go up from the city. The men of Benjamin turned around. They saw the smoke of the whole city going up into the sky.

⁴¹Then the men of Israel turned around and attacked them.

The men of Benjamin were terrified. They realized they were going to be destroyed. ⁴²So they ran away from the men of Israel. They ran toward the desert. But they couldn’t escape the battle. Other men of Israel came out of the towns. There they struck the men of Benjamin down. ⁴³They surrounded them. They chased them and easily caught up with them. That happened east of Gibeah.

⁴⁴So 18,000 men of Benjamin fell in battle. All of them were brave fighters.

⁴⁵Some men of Benjamin turned back. They ran toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon. As they did, the men of Israel struck down 5,000 of them along the roads. They kept chasing the men of Benjamin all the way to Gidom. Along the way they struck down 2,000 more.

⁴⁶On that day 25,000 men of Benjamin fell in battle. They had been carrying swords. All of them were brave fighters. ⁴⁷But 600 men turned back. They ran into the desert to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed there for four months.

⁴⁸The men of Israel went back to Benjamin. They killed the people in all of the towns with their swords. They even killed the animals. So they killed everything they found. They set on fire all of the towns they came to.

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