Then all of the people of Israel 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 the sight of the Lord at Mizpah.
The leaders of all of the tribes of Israel came. They took their places among the people of God who were gathered together. There were 400,000 fighting men who were carrying swords.
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.
"I took my concubine and cut her into pieces. I sent one piece to each part of Israel's territory. I did it because they had done a very terrible thing in Israel.
We'll take ten men out of every 100 from all of 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 evil thing they did in Israel."
Hand over 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 people of Israel.
Right away the people of Benjamin gathered together 26,000 men from their towns. They were carrying swords. The men were added to the 700 who had been chosen from those who were living in Gibeah.
The people of Israel went up to Bethel. There they spoke to God. They asked him, "Who will go up first and fight for us against the people of Benjamin?" The Lord answered, "The tribe of Judah will go first."
The men of Israel went and sobbed in the sight of the Lord until evening. They spoke to the Lord. They asked, "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."
The men of Benjamin came out from Gibeah to oppose them. That time they killed 18,000 more men of Israel. All of the men who died had been carrying swords.
Then all of the people of Israel went up to Bethel. They sat there and sobbed in the sight of the Lord. They didn't eat anything that day until evening. Then they brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings to the Lord.
Phinehas was serving as priest at the ark. He was the son of Eleazar. Eleazar was the son of Aaron. The people of Israel 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."
The men of Benjamin came out to fight against them. They were drawn away from the city. They began to wound and kill the men of Israel 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.
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."
All of 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.
The Lord helped Israel win the battle over Benjamin. On that day the men of Israel struck down 25,100 men of Benjamin. All of the men who died had been carrying swords.
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.
Then the men of Israel would turn around 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."
So they ran away from the men of Israel. They ran toward the desert. But they couldn't escape the battle. Other men of Israel came out of the towns. There they struck the men of Benjamin down.
Some men of Benjamin turned back. They ran toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon. As they did, the men of Israel 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.
The men of Israel went back to Benjamin. They killed the people in all of the towns with their swords. They even killed the animals. So they killed everything they found. They set on fire all of the towns they came to.