Parallel Bible results for "judges 20"

Judges 20

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.

New Century Version NCV

1 So all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, joined together before the Lord in the city of Mizpah.

2 The leaders of all the tribes of Israel took their places in the meeting of the people of God. There were 400,000 soldiers with swords.

3 (The people of Benjamin heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said to the Levite, "Tell us how this evil thing happened."

4 So the husband of the murdered woman answered, "My slave woman and I came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house and wanted to kill me. They forced my slave woman to have sexual relations and she died.

6 I took her and cut her into parts and sent one part to each area of Israel because the people of Benjamin did this wicked and terrible thing in Israel.

7 Now, all you Israelites, speak up. What is your decision?"

8 Then all the people stood up at the same time, saying, "None of us will go home. Not one of us will go back to his house!

9 Now this is what we will do to Gibeah. We will throw lots.

10 That way we will choose ten men from every hundred men from all the tribes of Israel, and we will choose a hundred men from every thousand, and a thousand men from every ten thousand. These will find supplies for the army. Then the army will go to the city of Gibeah of Benjamin to repay them for the terrible thing they have done in Israel."

11 So all the men of Israel were united and gathered against the city.

12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin demanding, "What is this evil thing some of your men have done?

13 Hand over the wicked men in Gibeah so that we can put them to death. We must remove this evil from Israel." But the Benjaminites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.

14 The Benjaminites left their own cities and met at Gibeah to fight the Israelites.

15 In only one day the Benjaminites got 26,000 soldiers together who were trained with swords. They also had 700 chosen men from Gibeah.

16 Seven hundred of these trained soldiers were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss!

17 The Israelites, except for the Benjaminites, gathered 400,000 soldiers with swords.

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

23 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.

25 The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah to attack the Israelites. This time, the Benjaminites killed 18,000 Israelites, all of whom carried swords.

26 Then the Israelites went up to Bethel. There they sat down and cried to the Lord and went without food all day until evening. They also brought burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord.

27 The Israelites asked the Lord a question. (In those days the Ark of the Agreement with God was there at Bethel.

28 A priest named Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before the Ark of the Agreement.) They asked, "Shall we go to fight our relatives, the Benjaminites, again, or shall we stop fighting?" The Lord answered, "Go, because tomorrow I will hand them over to you."

29 Then the Israelites set up ambushes all around Gibeah.

30 They went to fight against the Benjaminites at Gibeah on the third day, getting into position for battle as they had done before.

31 When the Benjaminites came out to fight them, the Israelites backed up and led the Benjaminites away from the city. The Benjaminites began to kill some of the Israelites as they had done before. About thirty Israelites were killed -- some in the fields and some on the roads leading to Bethel and to Gibeah.

32 The Benjaminites said, "We are winning as before!" But the Israelites said, "Let's run. Let's trick them into going farther away from their city and onto the roads."

33 All the Israelites moved from their places and got into battle positions at a place named Baal Tamar. Then the Israelites ran out from their hiding places west of Gibeah.

34 Ten thousand of the best trained soldiers from all of Israel attacked Gibeah. The battle was very hard. The Benjaminites did not know disaster was about to come to them.

35 The Lord used the Israelites to defeat the Benjaminites. On that day the Israelites killed 25,100 Benjaminites, all armed with swords.

36 Then the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated. The Israelites had moved back because they were depending on the surprise attack they had set up near Gibeah.

37 The men in hiding rushed into Gibeah, spread out, and killed everyone in the city with their swords.

38 Now the Israelites had set up a signal with the men in hiding. The men in the surprise attack were to send up a cloud of smoke from the city.

39 Then the army of Israel turned around in the battle. The Benjaminites had killed about thirty Israelites. They were saying, "We are winning, as in the first battle!"

40 But then a cloud of smoke began to rise from the city. The Benjaminites turned around and saw that the whole city was going up in smoke.

41 Then the Israelites turned and began to fight. The Benjaminites were terrified because they knew that disaster was coming to them.

42 So the Benjaminites ran away from the Israelites toward the desert, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the cities killed them.

43 They surrounded the Benjaminites and chased them and caught them in the area east of Gibeah.

44 So 18,000 brave Benjaminite fighters were killed.

45 The Benjaminites ran toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, but the Israelites killed 5,000 Benjaminites along the roads. They chased them as far as Gidom and killed 2,000 more Benjaminites there.

46 On that day 25,000 Benjaminites were killed, all of whom had fought bravely with swords.

47 But 600 Benjaminites ran to the rock of Rimmon in the desert, where they stayed for four months.

48 Then the Israelites went back to the land of Benjamin and killed the people in every city and also the animals and everything they could find. And they burned every city they found.