15They turned off there and went in to spend the night in Gibeah. He went and sat down in the town square, but nobody took them indoors to spend the night. 16In the evening, an old man came along from his property c-outside the town.-c (This man hailed from the hill country of Ephraim and resided at Gibeah, where the townspeople were Benjaminites.) 17He happened to see the wayfarer in the town square. “Where,” the old man inquired, “are you going to, and where do you come from?” 18He replied, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the other end of the hill country of Ephraim. That is where I live. I made a journey to Bethlehem of Judah, and now I am on my way d-to the House of the LORD,-d and nobody has taken me indoors. 19We have both bruised straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and your handmaid,e and for the attendant f-with your servants.-f We lack nothing.” 20“Rest easy,” said the old man. “Let me take care of all your needs. Do not on any account spend the night in the square.” 21And he took him into his house. He mixed fodder for the donkeys; then they bathed their feet and ate and drank.
22While they were enjoying themselves, the men of the town, a depraved lot, had gathered about the house and were pounding on the door. They called to the aged owner of the house, “Bring out the man who has come into your house, so that we can be intimate with him.” 23The owner of the house went out and said to them, “Please, my friends, do not commit such a wrong. Since this man has entered my house, do not perpetrate this outrage. 24Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. Let me bring them out to you. Have your pleasure of them, do what you like with them; but don’t do that outrageous thing to this man.” 25But the men would not listen to him, so the man seized his concubine and pushed her out to them. They raped her and abused her all night long until morning; and they let her go when dawn broke.
26Toward morning the woman came back; and as it was growing light, she collapsed at the entrance of the man’s house where her husband was. 27When her husband arose in the morning, he opened the doors of the house and went out to continue his journey; and there was the woman, his concubine, lying at the entrance of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28“Get up,” he said to her, “let us go.” But there was no reply. So the man placed her on the donkey and set out for home. 29When he came home, he picked up a knife, and took hold of his concubine and cut her up limb by limb into twelve parts. He sent them throughout the territory of Israel. 30And everyone who saw it cried out, “Never has such a thing happened or been seen from the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt to this day! Put your mind to this; take counsel and decide.”
20 Thereupon all the Israelites—from Dan to Beer-sheba and [from] the land of Gilead—marched forth, and the community assembled to a man before the LORD at Mizpah. 2All the leaders of the people [and] all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people, 400,000 fighting men on foot.—3The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had come up to Mizpah.a—The Israelites said, “Tell us, how did this evil thing happen?” 4And the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, replied, “My concubine and I came to Gibeah of Benjamin to spend the night. 5The citizens of Gibeah set out to harm me. They gathered against me around the house in the night; they meant to kill me, and they ravished my concubine until she died. 6So I took hold of my concubine and I cut her in pieces and sent them through every part of Israel’s territory. For an outrageous act of depravity had been committed in Israel. 7Now you are all Israelites; produce a plan of action here and now!”
8Then all the people rose, as one man, and declared, “We will not go back to our homes, we will not enter our houses! 9But this is what we will do to Gibeah: [we will wage war] against it according to lot. 10We will take from all the tribes of Israel ten men to the hundred, a hundred to the thousand, and a thousand to the ten thousand to supply provisions for the troops—b-to prepare for their going to Geba in Benjamin-b for all the outrage it has committed in Israel.” 11So all the men of Israel, united as one man, massed against the town. 12And the tribes of Israel sent men through the whole tribec of Benjamin, saying, “What is this evil thing that has happened among you? 13Come, hand over those scoundrels in Gibeah so that we may put them to death and stamp out the evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not yield to the demand of their fellow Israelites.
14So the Benjaminites gathered from their towns to Gibeah in order to take the field against the Israelites. 15dOn that day the Benjaminites mustered from the towns 26,000 fighting men, mustered apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah; 700 picked men 16of all this force—700 picked men— were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17The men of Israel other than Benjamin mustered 400,000 fighting men, warriors to a man. 18They proceeded to Bethel and inquired of God; the Israelites asked, “Who of us shall advance first to fight the Benjaminites?” And the LORD replied, “Judah first.” 19So the Israelites arose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
20The men of Israel took the field against the Benjaminites; the men of Israel drew up in battle order against them at Gibeah. 21But the Benjaminites issued from Gibeah, and that day they struck down 22,000 men of Israel.
22Now the army—the men of Israel—rallied and again drew up in battle order at the same place as they had on the first day. 23For the Israelites had gone up and wept before the LORD until evening. They had inquired of the LORD, “Shall we again join battle with our kinsmen the Benjaminites?” And the LORD had replied, “March against them.” 24The Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites on the second day. 25But the Benjaminites came out from Gibeah against them on the second day and struck down 18,000 more of the Israelites, all of them fighting men.
26Then all the Israelites, all the army, went up and came to Bethel and they sat there, weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening, and presented burnt offerings and offerings of well-being to the LORD. 27The Israelites inquired of the LORD (for the Ark of God’s Covenant was there in those days, 28and Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest ministered before Him in those days), “Shall we again take the field against our kinsmen the Benjaminites, or shall we not?” The LORD answered, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hands.”
29Israel put men in ambush against Gibeah on all sides. 30And on the third day, the Israelites went up against the Benjaminites, as before, and engaged them in battle at Gibeah. 31The Benjaminites dashed out to meet the army and were drawn away from the town onto the roads, of which one runs to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. As before, they started out by striking some of the men dead in the open field, about 30 men of Israel.
32The Benjaminites thought, “They are being routed before us as previously.” But the Israelites had planned: “We will take to flight and draw them away from the town to the roads.” 33And while the main body of the Israelites had moved away from their positions and had drawn up in battle order at Baal-tamar, the Israelite ambush was rushing out from its position at Maareh-geba.e 34Thus 10,000 picked men of all Israel came to a point south off Gibeah, and the battle was furious. Before they realized that disaster was approaching, 35the LORD routed the Benjaminites before Israel. That day the Israelites slew 25,100 men of Benjamin, all of them fighting men. 36Then the Benjaminites realized that they were routed.g Now the Israelites had yielded ground to the Benjaminites, for they relied on the ambush which they had laid against Gibeah. 37One ambush quickly deployed against Gibeah, and the other ambush advanced and put the whole town to the sword.
38A time had been agreed upon by the Israelite men with those in ambush: When a huge column of smoke was sent up from the town, 39the Israelite men were to turn about in battle. Benjamin had begun by striking dead about 30 Israelite men, and they thought, “They are being routed before us as in the previous fighting.” 40But when the column, the pillar of smoke, began to rise from the city, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and there was the whole town going up in smoke to the sky! 41And now the Israelites turned about, and
