18 The Israelis got ready and went to Bethel and asked God, “Who should lead us into battle with the Benyamites?”

“It should be Yehudah out front,” Yahweh responded.

19 So the Israelis set out in the morning and made camp near Gibeah. 20 Then they went out to battle against the Benyamites—setting themselves up for the battle against them at Gibeah.

21 But the Benyamites led a surprise attack out of Gibeah and killed twenty-two thousand of the Israeli warriors. 22 However the Israelis strengthened themselves and they continued to set up for battle the next day at the same place.

23 Then the Israelis assembled and wept before Yahweh until evening. They asked him, “Should we continue to attack and battle against our cousins the Benyamites?”

“Go back against them,” Yahweh replied. 24 So the Israelis went back to battle against the Benyamites again on the second day. 25 Again the Benyamites came out from Gibeah, and this time they killed eighteen thousand Israeli swordsmen. 26 Then the Israeli warriors and all the people went back to Bethel. They wept, and they sat there before Yahweh. They fasted that day until the evening, then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to Yahweh. 27 They asked Yahweh (because the box containing the agreement with the true God was there in those days 28 and Finehas (son of Aharon’s son Eleazar) was serving before it in those days), “Should we continue to go to the battle once more against the our cousins the Benyamites, or should we stop?”

“Go back again, because tomorrow I’ll give you victory over them,” Yahweh responded.

29 So the Israelis placed groups of warriors in ambush all around Gibeah. 30 Then they took their positions now for the third day against the Benyamites in Gibeah. 31 When the Benyamites came out from the city, they were lured away as they began to strike down their enemies like the time before. Around thirty Israelis were killed on the two roads—one going to Bethel and the other to Gibeah through the countryside. 32 Then the Benyamites said, “We’re starting to defeat them, just like before.”

But the Israelis had said, “Let’s flee so that we can draw them away from the city and onto the roads.” 33 Then the main group of Israelis retreated and set up battle lines at Baal-Tamar, as the ones hiding in ambush made a surprise attack from their places in Maareh-Gibeah. 34 Ten thousand chosen Israeli warriors came out in the sight of the Gibeah region, and the battle was fierce, but the Benyamites hadn’t yet realised that disaster was about to hit them. 35 Yahweh helped the Israelis to defeat the Benyamites that day, and over twenty-five thousand Benyamite swordsmen were killed 36 and they saw that they were defeated.

The Israelis had given ground to the Benyamites because they had relied on the ambush placed around Gibeah. 37 Then the group hiding in ambush had rushed out and spread out around Gibeah, then had gone in and attacked the entire city with their swords. 38 Then they started a fire as the prearranged signal was to be the rising column of smoke up out of the city.

39 Meanwhile the main Israeli force had retreated, and the Benyamites had attacked and killed around thirty men, thinking that they were winning like they’d done twice before. 40 But when the pillar of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benyamites looked behind them and were shocked to see their city going up in smoke. 41 Then the main Israeli force stopped retreating and turned back to attack again. The Benyamites were horrified because they now saw that disaster had struck them. 42 They retreated away from the Israelis into the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, plus the Israelis were coming back out of the cities getting right in amongst them to fight. 43 They surrounded the Benyamites as they tried to flee, and easily ran them down as they tried to escape from the Gibeah region towards the east. 44 Eighteen thousand strong Benyamite warriors were killed, 45 and the rest turned and fled into the wilderness towards the Rimmon rock. Another five thousand men were killed along the trails. They chased them all the way to Gidom, and killed another two thousand men, 46 so the total number of Benyamite swordsmen who were killed came to twenty-five thousand—all strong warriors.

47 But six hundred men made it to Rimmon rock, and they stayed there for four months. 48 Meanwhile, the Israelis went back to the Benyamite region and killed the people with their swords—entire cities including cattle and everything else—then the cities were set on fire.