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.

The Latin Vulgate VUL

1 egressi sunt itaque omnes filii Israhel et pariter congregati quasi vir unus de Dan usque Bersabee et terra Galaad ad Dominum in Maspha

2 omnesque anguli populorum et cunctae tribus Israhel in ecclesiam populi Dei convenerunt quadringenta milia peditum pugnatorum

3 nec latuit filios Beniamin quod ascendissent filii Israhel in Maspha interrogatusque Levita maritus mulieris interfectae quomodo tantum scelus perpetratum esset

4 respondit veni in Gabaa Beniamin cum uxore mea illucque deverti

5 et ecce homines civitatis illius circumdederunt nocte domum in qua manebam volentes me occidere et uxorem meam incredibili libidinis furore vexantes denique mortua est

6 quam arreptam in frusta concidi misique partes in omnes terminos possessionis vestrae quia numquam tantum nefas et tam grande piaculum factum est in Israhel

7 adestis omnes filii Israhel decernite quid facere debeatis

8 stansque omnis populus quasi unius hominis sermone respondit non recedemus in tabernacula nostra nec suam quisquam intrabit domum

9 sed hoc contra Gabaa in commune faciemus

10 decem viri eligantur e centum ex omnibus tribubus Israhel et centum de mille et mille de decem milibus ut conportent exercitui cibaria et possimus pugnantes contra Gabaa Beniamin reddere ei pro scelere quod meretur

11 convenitque universus Israhel ad civitatem quasi unus homo eadem mente unoque consilio

12 et miserunt nuntios ad omnem tribum Beniamin qui dicerent cur tantum nefas in vobis reppertum est

13 tradite homines de Gabaa qui hoc flagitium perpetrarunt ut moriantur et auferatur malum de Israhel qui noluerunt fratrum suorum filiorum Israhel audire mandatum

14 sed ex cunctis urbibus quae suae sortis erant convenerunt in Gabaa ut illis ferrent auxilium et contra universum Israhel populum dimicarent

15 inventique sunt viginti quinque milia de Beniamin educentium gladium praeter habitatores Gabaa

16 qui septingenti erant viri fortissimi ita sinistra ut dextra proeliantes et sic fundis ad certum iacientes lapides ut capillum quoque possent percutere et nequaquam in alteram partem ictus lapidis deferretur

17 virorum quoque Israhel absque filiis Beniamin inventa sunt quadringenta milia educentium gladios et paratorum ad pugnam

18 qui surgentes venerunt in domum Dei hoc est in Silo consulueruntque eum atque dixerunt quis erit in exercitu nostro princeps certaminis contra filios Beniamin quibus respondit Dominus Iudas sit dux vester

19 statimque filii Israhel surgentes mane castrametati sunt iuxta Gabaa

20 et inde procedentes ad pugnam contra Beniamin urbem obpugnare coeperunt

21 egressique filii Beniamin de Gabaa occiderunt de filiis Israhel die illo viginti duo milia viros

22 rursum filii Israhel et fortitudine et numero confidentes in eodem loco in quo prius certaverant aciem direxerunt

23 ita tamen ut prius ascenderent et flerent coram Domino usque ad noctem consulerentque eum et dicerent debeo ultra procedere ad dimicandum contra filios Beniamin fratres meos an non quibus ille respondit ascendite ad eum et inite certamen

24 cumque filii Israhel altero die contra Beniamin ad proelium processissent

25 eruperunt filii Beniamin de portis Gabaa et occurrentes eis tanta in illos caede baccati sunt ut decem et octo milia virorum educentium gladium prosternerent

26 quam ob rem omnes filii Israhel venerunt in domum Dei et sedentes flebant coram Domino ieiunaveruntque illo die usque ad vesperam et obtulerunt ei holocausta et pacificas victimas

27 et super statu suo interrogaverunt eo tempore ibi erat arca foederis Dei

28 et Finees filius Eleazari filii Aaron praepositus domus consuluerunt igitur Dominum atque dixerunt exire ultra debemus ad pugnam contra filios Beniamin fratres nostros an quiescere quibus ait Dominus ascendite cras enim tradam eos in manus vestras

29 posueruntque filii Israhel insidias per circuitum urbis Gabaa

30 et tertia vice sicut semel et bis contra Beniamin exercitum produxerunt

31 sed et filii Beniamin audacter eruperunt de civitate et fugientes adversarios longius persecuti sunt ita ut vulnerarent ex eis sicut primo et secundo die et caederent per duas semitas terga vertentes quarum una ferebat in Bethel altera in Gabaa atque prosternerent triginta circiter viros

32 putaverunt enim solito eos more cedere qui fugam arte simulantes iniere consilium ut abstraherent eos de civitate et quasi fugientes ad supradictas semitas perducerent

33 omnes itaque filii Israhel surgentes de sedibus suis tetenderunt aciem in loco qui vocatur Baalthamar insidiae quoque quae circa urbem erant paulatim se aperire coeperunt

34 et ab occidentali urbis parte procedere sed et alia decem milia virorum de universo Israhel habitatores urbis ad certamina provocabant ingravatumque est bellum contra filios Beniamin et non intellexerunt quod ex omni parte illis instaret interitus

35 percussitque eos Dominus in conspectu filiorum Israhel et interfecerunt ex eis in illo die viginti quinque milia et centum viros omnes bellatores et educentes gladium

36 filii autem Beniamin cum se inferiores esse vidissent coeperunt fugere quod cernentes filii Israhel dederunt eis ad fugiendum locum ut ad praeparatas insidias devenirent quas iuxta urbem posuerant

37 qui cum repente de latibulis surrexissent et Beniamin terga caedentibus daret ingressi sunt civitatem et percusserunt eam in ore gladii

38 signum autem dederant filii Israhel his quos in insidiis conlocaverant ut postquam urbem cepissent ignem accenderent et ascendente in altum fumo captam urbem demonstrarent

39 quod cum cernerent filii Israhel in ipso certamine positi putaverunt enim filii Beniamin eos fugere et instantius sequebantur caesis de exercitu eorum triginta viris

40 et viderent quasi columnam fumi de civitate conscendere Beniamin quoque retro aspiciens captam cerneret civitatem et flammas in sublime ferri

41 qui prius simulaverant fugam versa facie fortius resistebant quod cum vidissent filii Beniamin in fugam versi sunt

42 et ad viam deserti ire coeperunt illuc quoque eos adversariis persequentibus sed et hii qui urbem succenderant occurrerunt eis

43 atque ita factum est ut ex utraque parte ab hostibus caederentur nec erat ulla morientium requies ceciderunt atque prostrati sunt ad orientalem plagam urbis Gabaa

44 fuerunt autem qui in eodem loco interfecti sunt decem et octo milia virorum omnes robustissimi pugnatores

45 quod cum vidissent qui remanserant de Beniamin fugerunt in solitudinem et pergebant ad petram cuius vocabulum est Remmon in illa quoque fuga palantes et in diversa tendentes occiderunt quinque milia viros et cum ultra tenderent persecuti sunt eos et interfecerunt etiam alios duo milia

46 et sic factum est ut omnes qui ceciderant de Beniamin in diversis locis essent viginti quinque milia pugnatores ad bella promptissimi

47 remanserunt itaque de omni numero Beniamin qui evadere potuerant et fugere in solitudinem sescenti viri sederuntque in petra Remmon mensibus quattuor

48 regressi autem filii Israhel omnes reliquias civitatis a viris usque ad iumenta gladio percusserunt cunctasque urbes et viculos Beniamin vorax flamma consumpsit