25. And Benjamin went forth out of Gibeah against them the second day and felled to the ground the Israelites again, 18,000 men, all of whom were swordsmen.
26. Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up and came to the house of God [Bethel] and wept; and they sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
27. And the Israelites inquired of the Lord–for the ark of the covenant of God was there [at Bethel] in those days,
28. And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days–saying, Shall we yet again go out to battle against our brethren the Benjamites or shall we quit? And the Lord said, Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.
29. So Israel set men in ambush round about Gibeah.
30. And the Israelites went up against the Benjamites on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah as at other times.
31. And the Benjamites went out against their army and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite and kill some of the people as at other times, in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country–about thirty men of Israel.
32. And the Benjamites said, They are routed before us as at first. But the Israelites said, Let us flee and draw them from the city to the highways.
33. And all the men of Israel rose out of their places and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel in ambush rushed out of their place in the meadow of Geba.
34. And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard; but the Benjamites did not know disaster was close upon them.
35. And the Lord overcame Benjamin before Israel, and the Israelites destroyed of the Benjamites that day 25,100 men, all of whom were swordsmen.
36. So the Benjamites saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel gave ground to the Benjamites, because they trusted in the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah.
37. And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah, and the liers-in-wait moved out and smote all the city with the sword.
38. Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke arise from the city,
39. The men of Israel should all turn back in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to smite and kill some of the men of Israel, about thirty persons. They said, Surely they are falling before us as in the first battle.
40. But when the [signal] cloud began to rise out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to the heavens.
41. When the men of Israel turned back again, the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster had come upon them.
42. Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel and fled toward the wilderness, but the battle followed close behind and overtook them; and the inhabitants of the cities destroyed those [Benjamites] who came through them in their midst.