Judges 20 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

The Israelites punish the tribe of Benjamin

1 Then all the Israelites came out. They came from the whole land between Dan and Beersheba. They also came from the land of Gilead. All of them gathered together in front of the LORD at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the tribes of Israel came. They took their places among the people of God gathered together. There were 400,000 men carrying swords. 3 The tribe of Benjamin heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites said, ‘Tell us how this awful thing happened.’ 4 So the Levite spoke. He was the husband of the woman who had been murdered. He said, ‘I and my concubine went to Gibeah in Benjamin. We spent the night there. 5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house. They were planning to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. 6 I took my concubine and cut her into pieces. I sent one piece to each part of Israel’s territory. I did it because the men of Gibeah had done a very terrible thing in Israel. 7 All you men of Israel, speak up now. Tell me what you have decided to do.’ 8 All the men got up together. They said, ‘None of us will go home. Not one of us will return to his house. 9 Here is what we’ll do to Gibeah. We’ll cast lots to tell us how to attack the city. 10 We’ll take ten men out of every 100 from all the tribes of Israel. We’ll take 100 from every 1,000. We’ll take 1,000 from every 10,000. The men we take will get supplies for the army. Then the army will go to Gibeah in Benjamin. They’ll give Gibeah exactly what they should get because of the terrible thing they did in Israel.’ 11 So all the men of Israel came together to fight against the city. 12 The tribes of Israel sent people to carry a message through the whole tribe of Benjamin. They said, ‘What about this awful crime that was committed among you? 13 Hand over to us those evil men of Gibeah. We’ll put them to death. In that way we’ll get rid of those evil people.’ But the people of Benjamin wouldn’t listen to the other Israelites. 14 They came together at Gibeah from their towns. They came to fight against the other Israelites. 15 Right away the people of Benjamin gathered together 26,000 men from their towns. They were carrying swords. These men were added to the 700 capable young men from Gibeah. 16 Among all these men there were 700 who were left-handed. Each of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17 Israel gathered 400,000 men together. They were carrying swords. All of them were trained for battle. That number didn’t include the tribe of Benjamin. 18 The Israelites went up to Bethel. There they asked God, ‘Who should go up first and fight against the people of Benjamin?’ The LORD answered, ‘The tribe of Judah will go first.’ 19 The next morning the Israelites got up. They set up camp near Gibeah. 20 The Israelites went out to fight against the men of Benjamin. They took up their battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21 The men of Benjamin came out of Gibeah. They killed 22,000 Israelites on the field of battle that day. 22 But the Israelites cheered one another on. They again took up their positions in the places where they had been the first day. 23 The Israelites went and wept in front of the LORD until evening. They asked the LORD, ‘Should we go up again to fight against the men of Benjamin? They are our fellow Israelites.’ The LORD answered, ‘Go up and fight against them.’ 24 The Israelites came near the men of Benjamin on the second day. 25 The men of Benjamin came out from Gibeah to oppose them. That time they killed 18,000 more Israelites. All the men who died had been carrying swords. 26 Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They sat there and wept in front of the LORD. They didn’t eat anything that day until evening. Then they brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings to the LORD. 27 Again the Israelites spoke to the LORD. In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there. 28 Phinehas was serving as priest at the ark. He was the son of Eleazar. Eleazar was the son of Aaron. The Israelites asked, ‘Should we go up again to fight against the men of Benjamin? They are our fellow Israelites.’ The LORD answered, ‘Go. Tomorrow I will hand them over to you.’ 29 Then Israel hid some men and had them wait all around Gibeah. 30 They went up to fight against the men of Benjamin on the third day. They took up their positions against Gibeah, just as they had done before. 31 The men of Benjamin came out to fight against them. They were drawn away from the city. They began to wound and kill the Israelites just as they had done before. About 30 men fell in battle. They fell in the open fields and on the roads. One of the roads led to Bethel. The other led to Gibeah. 32 The men of Benjamin said, ‘We’re winning the battle over them, just as we did before.’ But the men of Israel said, ‘Let’s pull back. Let’s draw them away from the city to the roads.’ 33 All the men of Israel moved away from their places. They took up new battle positions at Baal Tamar. The men who had been hiding charged out. They came from west of Gibeah. 34 Then 10,000 of Israel’s capable young men attacked Gibeah. The men of Benjamin didn’t realise they were about to be destroyed. The fighting was very heavy. 35 The LORD helped Israel win the battle over Benjamin. On that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 men of Benjamin. All the men who died had been carrying swords. 36 Then the men of Benjamin saw that they had lost the battle. The men of Israel had moved away from their positions in front of Benjamin. They had depended on the men they had hidden near Gibeah. 37 Suddenly those men who had been hiding rushed into Gibeah. They spread out. Then they killed everyone in the city with their swords. 38 The Israelites had made a plan with those who had been hiding. They had told them to send up a large cloud of smoke from the city. 39 Then the Israelites would turn round and attack. The men of Benjamin had begun to wound and kill the men of Israel. They had struck down about 30 of them. They had said, ‘We’re winning the battle over them, just as we did the first time.’ 40 But a large cloud of smoke began to go up from the city. The men of Benjamin turned round. They saw the whole city going up in smoke. 41 Then the Israelites turned round and attacked them. The men of Benjamin were terrified. They realised they were going to be destroyed. 42 So they ran away from the men of Israel. They ran towards the desert. But they couldn’t escape the battle. Other Israelites came out of the towns. There they struck down the men of Benjamin. 43 Here’s how it happened. The Israelites had surrounded them. They had chased them and easily caught up with them east of Gibeah. 44 So 18,000 men of Benjamin fell in battle. All of them were brave fighters. 45 Some men of Benjamin turned back. They ran towards the desert to the rock of Rimmon. As they did, the Israelites struck down 5,000 of them along the roads. They kept chasing the men of Benjamin all the way to Gidom. Along the way they struck down 2,000 more. 46 On that day 25,000 men of Benjamin fell in battle. They had been carrying swords. All of them were brave fighters. 47 But 600 of them turned back. They ran into the desert to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed there for four months. 48 The men of Israel went back to Benjamin. In all the towns they killed the people with their swords. They even killed the animals. So they killed everything they found. They set on fire all the towns they came to.

Nya Levande Bibeln

from Biblica

Israel anfaller Benjamins stam

1-2 Israel sände då sina ledare och 400.000 beväpnade män till Mispa, där de trädde fram inför Herren. De kom så långt ifrån som Dan och Beer-Seba och alla platser däremellan, och även från Gilead på andra sidan Jordan. 3 Ryktet om mobiliseringen av de israelitiska trupperna nådde snart Benjamin. De ledande männen i Israel skickade då efter den mördade kvinnans man och bad honom berätta vad som hade hänt. 4 "Det var sent när vi kom fram till Gibea, en by i Benjamin", började han. 5 "Samma kväll kom män från staden och omringade huset. Mig tänkte de döda, och min bihustru våldtog de tills hon dog. 6 Då styckade jag hennes döda kropp i tolv delar, som jag sände ut över hela landet, för dessa män hade begått ett fruktansvärt brott. 7 Nu vill jag höra er dom." 8-10 De svarade alla som en man: "Ingen av oss tänker vända om hem, förrän vi har straffat Gibea. En tiondel av armén ska genom lottdragning väljas ut med uppgift att förse oss med proviant. Resten ska förinta Gibea som straff för deras hemska brott." 11 Hela nationen förenades alltså inför uppgiften. 12 Man skickade budbärare till Benjamins stam och ställde krav: "Ni är skyldiga till ett oerhört brott! 13 Utlämna dessa onda män från er stad Gibea, så att vi kan avrätta dem och rena Israel från all ondska." Men folket i Benjamin ville inte höra på sina bröder. 14-15 I stället lyckades man samla 26.000 man till Gibea för att förena sig med de sju hundra som redan fanns där och försvara sig. 16 Bland dessa fanns det 700 vänsterhänta, som var mycket skickliga i att träffa med sina slungstenar. 17 Det övriga Israel, utom Benjamins stam, mönstrade 400.000 man. 18 Före striden drog de israelitiska trupperna upp till Betel för att rådfråga Herren. "Vilken stam ska anföra oss i striden mot Benjamins folk?" frågade de."Juda ska gå först", svarade Herren. 19-20 Tidigt nästa morgon tågade hela armén mot Gibea för att anfalla Benjamins män. 21 Men männen som försvarade staden rusade ut och dödade under den dagen 22.000 israeliter. 22-24 Då grät den israelitiska hären inför Herren ända till skymningen, och de frågade honom snyftande: "Ska vi fortsätta att strida mot vår bror Benjamin?""Ja!" svarade Herren. Då fick den israelitiska armén nytt mod och drog följande dag ut till strid på samma plats som tidigare, 25 och den dagen förlorade de ytterligare 18.000 man, allesammans beväpnade med svärd. 26 Då drog hela armén upp till Betel och grät inför Herren och fastade till kvällen och offrade brännoffer och tackoffer. 27-28 Guds ark fanns där på den tiden, och Pinehas, Eleasars son och Arons sonson, var präst. Israels män frågade Herren: "Ska vi gå ut igen och strida mot vår bror Benjamin?" Herren svarade: "Ja gör det. Jag ska se till att ni besegrar honom." 29 Då lade sig Israels soldater i bakhåll runt Gibea 30 och gick sedan än en gång ut och gjorde sig i ordning för strid. 31 När Benjamins trupper kom ut ur staden för att gå till anfall, drog sig Israels armé tillbaka, och Benjamins män lurades bort från staden när de förföljde Israel. Då började Benjamin precis som tidigare att angripa fiender utmed vägen mellan Betel och Gibea, och lyckades döda ett trettiotal av dem. 32 Då ropade man i Benjamins armé: "Vi besegrar dem igen! " Men de israelitiska soldaterna hade i förväg gjort upp att de skulle försöka få bort Benjamins armé från staden, 33 och när sedan Israels armé hade hunnit till Baal-Tamar vände den tillbaka och gick till anfall, och de 10.000 män som fanns i bakhåll rusade fram och gick 34 också till anfall, utan att Benjamin förstod hur stor faran för nederlag i själva verket var. 35-39 Herren hjälpte Israel att besegra Benjamin, och Israels armé dödade 25.100 man i Benjamin den dagen, nästan hela deras armé. Israels män drog sig alltså tillbaka från Benjamin för att ge dem som låg i bakhåll större möjlighet att manövrera. När benjaminiterna hade dödat omkring trettio stycken av Israels män var de övertygade om att de skulle vinna en lika stor seger som tidigare. Men den styrka som låg i bakhåll rusade in i staden, dödade alla som fanns där och tände eld på staden, och det stora rökmoln som steg mot himlen var signalen för Israel att gå till anfall mot Benjamin. 40-41 Dessa vände sig om och upptäckte att staden stod i lågor och insåg hur allvarligt läget var. 42 De flydde ut i öknen, men Israels armé förföljde dem, och männen som legat i bakhåll kom ut och fortsatte det blodbad som redan hade börjat. 43 De omringade Benjamins armé öster om Gibea och dödade flertalet av dem där. 44 I Benjamins armé dog 18.000 i striden. 45 Resten flydde ut i öknen bort mot Rimmons klippa, men 5.000 dödades utmed vägen och 2.000 närmare Gideom. 46-47 Benjamins stam förlorade den dagen 25.000 tappra män. De 600 som fanns kvar flydde alltså till Rimmons klippa, där de stannade i fyra månader. 48 Men Israels armé återvände och dödade allt och alla som tillhörde Benjamin och brände ner varje stad och by i hela området.