The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "How could such a wicked thing take place?

But the Israeli army not counting the tribe of Benjamin numbered 400,000 expert swordsmen, all of them battle-hardened soldiers.

and the army of Israel went out to fight the tribe of Benjamin, assembling in battle array against them at Gibeah.

and the tribe of Benjamin went to war against them from Gibeah during that second day, and 18,000 soldiers from the Israelis all of them expert swordsmen fell to the ground.

That's how 18,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin fell in battle, all of whom were valiant soldiers.

To sum up, the soldiers from the tribe of Benjamin who died that day totaled 25,000 men, all of them expert swordsmen and valiant soldiers.

But the Israelis were mourning for their relatives in the tribe of Benjamin. They announced, "One tribe has been eliminated from Israel today!

So the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin returned at that time, and the Israelis gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the raid on Jabesh-gilead. Even so, there weren't enough for them.

The people felt sorry for the tribe of Benjamin because the LORD had broken one of the tribes of Israel.

They continued, "Let's make sure that there's an inheritance for the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin, so that a tribe won't be blotted out from Israel.

But we can't give them wives from our own daughters, since we've taken this vow: "May the LORD curse anyone who gives his daughter as a wife to the tribe of Benjamin!'"

If their fathers or brothers come complaining to us, we'll tell them "Be generous! Give them to us voluntarily, because we didn't take anyone to be a wife for the men of the tribe of Benjamin as a result of the battle. And you haven't incurred guilt by giving your daughters to them.'"

But the tribe of Judah told the tribe of Simeon, the descendants of Judah's brother, "Come with us into our territory, and we'll both fight the Canaanites. In return, we'll go with you when you fight in your territory." So the army of the tribe of Simeon accompanied the army of the tribe of Judah.

We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army. When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel."

The fate of Ephraim uprooted them in Amalek; After thee, Benjamin, among thy tribes; From Machir the lawgivers came down, And from Zebulon they drawing with the rod of the scribe.

The Ammonites crossed the Jordan River to fight against the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. As a result, Israel was deeply distressed.

The tribe of Gilead remained on the other side of the Jordan River. As for the tribe of Dan, why did they stay on board their ships? The tribe of Asher sat by the seashore and remained near its harbors.

The men of Benjamin, however, did not conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this very day.

The Lord defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 men of Benjamin; all were armed men.

So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. When the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah,

But the descendants of Benjamin wouldn't obey the request of their own relatives, the Israelis, so the descendants of Benjamin assembled from the cities of Gibeah to fight the Israelis in battle.

At that point, as the army of Israel turned back to face the army of Benjamin, the army of Benjamin was filled with terror, because they realized that disaster was about to overtake them.

He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside the family, and he brought in thirty daughters [-in-law] from outside for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years.

She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abin'o-am from Kedesh in Naph'tali, and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you, 'Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking ten thousand from the tribe of Naph'tali and the tribe of Zeb'ulun.

The tribe of Zebulun did not worry about their lives at the price of death; neither did the tribe of Naphtali also on high places of the field.

In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel.

He sent messengers to the entire tribe of Manasseh, calling them to follow him, and he also sent word to the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, calling them to meet him.

Then Jephthah mustered all the men of Gilead, fought the tribe of Ephraim, and defeated them, because they had been claiming, "You descendants of Gilead are fugitives in the midst of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh."

So they traveled on, and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.

The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, "I and my concubine stopped in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.

the Israelites counterattacked. Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; they struck down about thirty men. They said, "There's no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle."

(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?

Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:

and keep your eyes open. When you see the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration, jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home to the land of Benjamin.

And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.

(And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)

And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.

And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.

And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.

And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.

And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.

Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;

And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.

But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, Benjamin looked behind them, and the whole city was going up in smoke.

Then Benjamin turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel killed 5,000 men on the highways. They overtook them at Gidom and struck 2,000 more dead.

When ten thousand choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle became fierce; but Benjamin did not know that disaster was close to them.

They surrounded Benjamin, pursued them without rest and trod them down opposite Gibeah toward the east.