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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Judges 20 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/judges/20.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/judges/20-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</a> > Judges 20</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../judges/19.htm" title="Judges 19">◄</a> Judges 20 <a href="../judges/21.htm" title="Judges 21">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/judges/20.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">The Israelites Punish the Benjamites</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the <span class="name">Lord</span> in Mizpah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand men armed with swords. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and outrageous act in Israel. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="One Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts Geba, a variant of Gibeah">a</a></sup></span> in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Now turn those wicked men of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.”</p><p class="reg">But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>The Israelites went up to Bethel <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or to the house of God; also in verse 26">b</a></sup></span> and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?”</p><p class="reg">The <span class="name">Lord</span> replied, “Judah shall go first.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>The Israelites went up and wept before the <span class="name">Lord</span> until evening, and they inquired of the <span class="name">Lord</span>. They said, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”</p><p class="reg">The <span class="name">Lord</span> answered, “Go up against them.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the <span class="name">Lord</span>. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the <span class="name">Lord</span>. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>And the Israelites inquired of the <span class="name">Lord</span>. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?”</p><p class="reg">The <span class="name">Lord</span> responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,” the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.">c</a></sup></span> of Gibeah. <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew Geba, a variant of Gibeah">d</a></sup></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>The <span class="name">Lord</span> defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.</p><p class="reg">Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>and then the Israelites would counterattack.</p><p class="reg">The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, “We are defeating them as in the first battle.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-41.htm"><b>41</b></a></span>Then the Israelites counterattacked, and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come on them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-42.htm"><b>42</b></a></span>So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-43.htm"><b>43</b></a></span>They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.">e</a></sup></span> overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-44.htm"><b>44</b></a></span>Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-45.htm"><b>45</b></a></span>As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-46.htm"><b>46</b></a></span>On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-47.htm"><b>47</b></a></span>But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/20-48.htm"><b>48</b></a></span>The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">10</span> <span class="footnotebot">One Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts <i>Geba,</i> a variant of <i>Gibeah</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">18</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>to the house of God</i>; also in verse 26</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">33</span> <span class="footnotebot">Some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">33</span> <span class="footnotebot">Hebrew <i>Geba,</i> a variant of <i>Gibeah</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">e</span> <span class="fnverse">43</span> <span class="footnotebot">The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.</span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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