Judg. 19:22‑30• 22They were making their hearts merry, when behold, the men of the city, sons of Belial, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him.
23And the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, No, my brethren, I pray you, do not wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this villany.
24Behold, my daughter, who is a virgin, and his concubine; let me bring them out, and humble ye them, and do to them as is good in your sight; but to this man do not so vile a thing.
25But the men would not hearken to him; and the man took his concubine, and brought her forth to them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning; and let her go when the morning-dawn arose.
26And the woman came at the dawning of the day, and fell down at the entrance of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.
27And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the door of the house, and went out to go his way, and behold, there lay the woman his concubine at the entrance of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.
28And he said to her, Up, and let us go; but no one answered. And he took her upon the ass; and the man rose up, and went to his place.
29And when he was come into his house, he took the knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, according to her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the borders of Israel.
30And it came to pass that every one that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came out of Egypt to this day. Think it over, advise, and speak. (Judg. 19:22‑30)
Judg. 20:1‑21:25• 1And all the children of Israel went forth, and the assembly gathered together as one man, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah at Mizpah.
2And the heads of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the congregation of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.
3And the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. And the children of Israel said, Tell us, how was this wickedness?
4Then the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said, I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
5And the citizens of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house because of me, by night; they thought to slay me, and my concubine have they humbled so that she died.
6Then I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed lewdness and villany in Israel.
7Behold, all ye, children of Israel, deliberate and give here your counsel.
8And all the people rose up as one man, saying, We will not any one go to his tent, neither will we any one turn into his house.
9But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: we go by lot against it;
10and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to fetch victuals for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the villany that they have wrought in Israel.
11And all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.
12And the tribes of Israel sent men to all the families of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that has been done among you?
13And now give up the men, the sons of Belial, who 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.
14And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities of Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
15And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities, twenty-six thousand men that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
16Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; all these slang stones at a hair breadth, and missed not.
17And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
18And the children of Israel arose and went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah first.
19And the children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
20And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.
21And the children of Benjamin went forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty-two thousand men.
22And the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and set the battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.
23And the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even, and inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up against him.
24And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
25And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and again destroyed to the ground of the children of Israel eighteen thousand men: all these drew the sword.
26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up and came to Bethel, and wept, and abode there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even, and offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
27And the children of Israel inquired of Jehovah (and the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28and 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 Jehovah said, Go up; for to-morrow I will give them into thy hand.
29And Israel set liers in wait against Gibeah, round about.
30And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at the other times.
31And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city, and began to smite of the people, slaying as at the former times, in the highways, of which one leads to Bethel and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
32And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. And the children of Israel said, Let us flee, that we may draw them from the city to the highways.
33And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-Tamar; and the ambush of Israel rushed forth out of their place, out of the meadows of Geba.
34And there came from opposite Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was severe; but they knew not that disaster was coming upon them.
35And Jehovah smote Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjaminites that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men: all these drew the sword.
36And the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten.--And the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted to the ambush that they had set against Gibeah.
37And the ambush hasted, and fell upon Gibeah; and the ambush drew along, and smote the whole city with the edge of the sword.
38Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the ambush, that they should make a thick column of smoke rise up out of the city.
39And when the men of Israel turned back in the battle, Benjamin began to smite, slaying of the men of Israel about thirty men; for they said, Surely they are quite routed before us as in the first battle.
40And when the burning began to rise up out of the city as a pillar of smoke, Benjamin looked behind, and behold, the whole city ascended in smoke to the heavens.
41Then the men of Israel turned back, and the men of Benjamin were amazed, for they saw that disaster was come upon them.
42And they turned before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in their midst.
43They encompassed the Benjaminites, chased them, trode them down at the resting-place over against Gibeah toward the sun-rising.
44And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men: all these, men of valour.
45And they turned and fled towards the wilderness to the cliff of Rimmon, and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them to Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
46So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men that drew the sword: all these, men of valour.
47And six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness to the cliff of Rimmon, and abode at the cliff of Rimmon four months.
48And 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 cattle, and all that was found; even all the cities that were found did they set on fire.
1Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter to the Benjaminites as wife.
2And the people came to Bethel, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly,
3and said, Jehovah, God of Israel, why is it come to pass in Israel, that there should be this day one tribe lacking in Israel?
4And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings.
5And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation to Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall certainly be put to death.
6And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, To day is one tribe extirpated from Israel.
7What shall we do for wives for them that remain? since we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters for wives.
8And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpah to Jehovah? And behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-Gilead, to the congregation;
9for the people were numbered, and behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead there.
10And the assembly sent thither twelve thousand men of the most valiant and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead with the edge of the sword, and the women and the children.
11And this is the thing which ye shall do: ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain with man.
12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead four hundred young women that were virgins, who had known no man by lying with any male, and they brought them to the camp, to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13And the whole assembly sent to speak to the children of Benjamin that were at the cliff of Rimmon, and to proclaim peace to them.
14And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them the wives whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-Gilead; but even so they found not enough for them.
15And the people repented them for Benjamin, because Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16And the elders of the assembly said, What shall we do for wives for them that remain? for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin.
17And they said, There must be a possession for those of Benjamin that have escaped, that a tribe be not blotted out of Israel.
18But we cannot give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to the Benjaminites!
19And they said, Behold, there is a feast of Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, toward the sun-rising of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
20And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to complain to us, that we will say to them, Gratify us with them, because we did not take each man his wife in the war; for ye did not give them to them, that ye should now be guilty.
23And the children of Benjamin did so, and took wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught; and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.
24And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.
25In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. (Judg. 20:1‑21:25)