Parallel Bible results for "judges 20"

Judges 20

English Standard Version ESV

1 Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at Mizpah.

2 And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot that drew the sword.

3 (Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. ) And the people of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this evil happen? ”

4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

5 And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead.

6 So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and outrage in Israel.

7 Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here. ”

8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house.

9 But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot,

10 and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin, for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel. ”

11 So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you?

13 Now therefore give up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and purge evil from Israel. ” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel.

14 Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel.

15 And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day ,000 men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men.

16 Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

17 And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered ,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.

18 The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, “Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin? ” And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up first. ”

19 Then the people of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.

20 And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah.

21 The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites.

22 But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.

23 And the people of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until the evening. And they inquired of the Lord, “Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin? ” And the Lord said, “Go up against them. ”

24 So the people of Israel came near against the people of Benjamin the second day.

25 And Benjamin went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who drew the sword.

26 Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

27 And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease? ” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand. ”

29 So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah.

30 And the people of Israel went up against the people of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.

31 And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel.

32 And the people of Benjamin said, “They are routed before us, as at the first. ” But the people of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways. ”

33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place from Maareh-geba.

34 And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them.

35 And the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the people of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day. All these were men who drew the sword.

36 So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah.

37 Then the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush moved out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword.

38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city

39 the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle. ”

40 But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven.

41 Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them.

42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities were destroying them in their midst.

43 Surrounding the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah as far as opposite Gibeah on the east.

44 Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor.

45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways. And they were pursued hard to Gidom, and 2,000 men of them were struck down.

46 So all who fell that day of Benjamin were 25,000 men who drew the sword, all of them men of valor.

47 But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and remained at the rock of Rimmon four months.

48 And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Then all the People of Israel came out. The congregation met in the presence of God at Mizpah. They were all there, from Dan to Beersheba, as one person!

2 The leaders of all the people, representing all the tribes of Israel, took their places in the gathering of God's people. There were 400 divisions of sword-wielding infantry.

3 Meanwhile the Benjaminites got wind that the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah. The People of Israel said, "Now tell us. How did this outrageous evil happen?"

4 The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke: "My concubine and I came to spend the night at Gibeah, a Benjaminite town.

5 That night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They gang-raped my concubine and she died.

6 So I took my concubine, cut up her body, and sent her piece by piece - twelve pieces! - to every part of Israel's inheritance. This vile and outrageous crime was committed in Israel!

7 So, Israelites, make up your minds. Decide on some action!"

8 All the people were at once and as one person on their feet. "None of us will go home; not a single one of us will go to his own house.

9 Here's our plan for dealing with Gibeah: We'll march against it by drawing lots.

10 We'll take ten of every hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (a hundred of every thousand, and a thousand of every ten thousand) to carry food for the army. When the troops arrive at Gibeah they will settle accounts for this outrageous and vile evil that was done in Israel."

11 So all the men in Israel were gathered against the city, totally united.

12 The Israelite tribes sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin saying, "What's the meaning of this outrage that took place among you?

13 Surrender the men right here and now, these hell-raisers of Gibeah. We'll put them to death and burn the evil out of Israel."

14 Instead they raised an army from all their cities and rallied at Gibeah to go to war against the People of Israel.

15 In no time at all they had recruited from their cities twenty-six divisions of sword-wielding infantry. From Gibeah they got 700 hand-picked fighters, the best.

16 There were another 700 super marksmen who were ambidextrous - they could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

17 The men of Israel, excluding Benjamin, mobilized 400 divisions of sword-wielding fighting men.

18 They set out and went to Bethel to inquire of God. The People of Israel said, "Who of us shall be first to go into battle with the Benjaminites?" God said, "Judah goes first."

19 The People of Israel got up the next morning and camped before Gibeah.

20 The army of Israel marched out against Benjamin and took up their positions, ready to attack Gibeah.

21 But the Benjaminites poured out of Gibeah and devastated twenty-two Israelite divisions on the ground.

22 The army took heart. The men of Israel took up the positions they had deployed on the first day.

23 The Israelites went back to the sanctuary and wept before God until evening. They again inquired of God, "Shall we again go into battle against the Benjaminites, our brothers?" God said, "Yes. Attack."

24 On the second day, the Israelites again advanced against Benjamin.

25 This time as the Benjaminites came out of the city, on this second day, they devastated another eighteen Israelite divisions, all swordsmen.

26 All the People of Israel, the whole army, were back at Bethel, weeping, sitting there in the presence of God. That day they fasted until evening. They sacrificed Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings before God.

27 And they again inquired of God. The Chest of God's Covenant was there at that time with

28 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, as the ministering priest. They asked, "Shall we again march into battle against the Benjaminites, our brothers? Or should we call it quits?" And God said, "Attack. Tomorrow I'll give you victory."

29 This time Israel placed men in ambush all around Gibeah.

30 On the third day when Israel set out, they took up the same positions before the Benjaminites as before.

31 When the Benjaminites came out to meet the army, they moved out from the city. Benjaminites began to cut down some of the troops just as they had before. About thirty men fell in the field and on the roads to Bethel and Gibeah.

32 The Benjaminites started bragging, "We're dropping them like flies, just as before!"

33 But the Israelites strategized: "Now let's retreat and pull them out of the city onto the main roads." So every Israelite moved farther out to Baal Tamar; at the same time the Israelite ambush rushed from its place west of Gibeah.

34 Ten crack divisions from all over Israel now arrived at Gibeah - intense, bloody fighting! The Benjaminites had no idea that they were about to go down in defeat -

35 God routed them before Israel. The Israelites decimated twenty-five divisions of Benjamin that day - 25,100 killed. They were all swordsmen.

36 The Benjaminites saw that they were beaten. The men of Israel acted like they were retreating before Benjamin, knowing that they could depend on the ambush they had prepared for Gibeah.

37 The ambush erupted and made quick work of Gibeah. The ambush spread out and massacred the city.

38 The strategy for the main body of the ambush was that they send up a smoke signal from the city.

39 Then the men of Israel would turn in battle. When that happened, Benjamin had killed about thirty Israelites and thought they were on their way to victory, yelling out, "They're on the run, just as in the first battle!"

40 But then the signal went up from the city - a huge column of smoke. When the Benjaminites looked back, there it was, the whole city going up in smoke.

41 By the time the men of Israel had turned back on them, the men of Benjamin fell apart - they could see that they were trapped.

42 Confronted by the Israelites, they tried to get away down the wilderness road, but by now the battle was everywhere. The men of Israel poured out of the towns, killing them right and left,

43 hot on their trail, picking them off east of Gibeah.

44 Eighteen divisions of Benjaminites were wiped out, all their best fighters.

45 Five divisions turned to escape to the wilderness, to Rimmon Rock, but the Israelites caught and slaughtered them on roads. Keeping the pressure on, the Israelites brought down two more divisions.

46 The total of the Benjaminites killed that day came to twenty-five divisions of infantry, their best swordsmen.

47 Six hundred men got away. They made it to Rimmon Rock in the wilderness and held out there for four months.

48 The men of Israel came back and killed all the Benjaminites who were left, all the men and animals they found in every town, and then torched the towns, sending them up in flames.