19. So the next morning, the Israelites got up and camped near Gibeah.
20. They marched out to fight against the Benjaminites, lining up in battle formation against them at Gibeah.
21. But the Benjaminites marched out from Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelite men that day.
23. So the Israelites went back up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, "Should we move in again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites?"And the Lord replied, "March out against them."
22. The Israelite troops regrouped and lined up in battle formation again in the same place they had lined up the first day.
24. The Israelites moved in against the Benjaminites the second day.
25. But the Benjaminites marched out of Gibeah to meet them on that second day and cut down another eighteen thousand Israelite men, all of whom were armed with swords.
26. Then all the Israelite troops went back up to Bethel and wept, just sitting there in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that whole day until evening. Then they offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices to the Lord.
27. Now in those days the chest containing God’s covenant was there,
28. and Phinehas, Eleazar’s son and Aaron’s grandson, was in charge of ministering before it. The Israelites asked the Lord, "Should we march out once again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites or should we give up?"And the Lord replied, "March up, for I’ll hand them to you tomorrow."
29. So the Israelites set ambushes around Gibeah.
30. Three days later, the Israelites marched out against the Benjaminites. They lined up for battle against Gibeah as before.
31. When the Benjaminites came out to meet them, they were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down some of the troops just like the last time, about thirty Israelites along the main roads, one of which goes up to Bethel and one to Gibeah, as well as in the open fields.
32. The Benjaminites thought, They’re being wiped out before us like the first time. But the Israelites had planned, We’ll retreat and draw them away from the city toward the main roads.
33. The Israelites moved from their position and reformed their battle lines at Baal-tamar. Then the Israelites who had been set in ambush charged out from their positions west of Gibeah.
34. Ten thousand specially chosen men from all the Israelites came against Gibeah. The fighting was fierce, and the Benjaminites didn’t realize that disaster was almost on them.
35. The Lord wiped out the Benjaminites before Israel. The Israelites slaughtered twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjaminite men that day, all of them armed with swords.
36. Then the Benjaminites saw that they had been defeated.The Israelites had given ground to the Benjaminites because they relied on the ambush that they had set around Gibeah.
37. Indeed, those in the ambush had dashed swiftly into Gibeah and killed all the people in the city with their swords.