1-3. The Israelites called a meeting of the nation. And since they were God's people, the meeting was held at the place of worship in Mizpah. Men who could serve as soldiers came from everywhere in Israel—from Dan in the north, Beersheba in the south, and Gilead east of the River Jordan. Four hundred thousand of them came to Mizpah, and they each felt the same about what those men from the tribe of Benjamin had done.News about the meeting at Mizpah reached the tribe of Benjamin.As soon as the leaders of the tribes of Israel took their places, the Israelites said, “How could such a horrible thing happen?”
4. The husband of the murdered woman answered:My wife and I went into the town of Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.
5. Later that night, the men of Gibeah surrounded the house. They wanted to kill me, but instead they raped and killed my wife.
6. It was a terrible thing for Israelites to do! So I cut up her body and sent pieces everywhere in Israel.
7. You are the people of Israel, and you must decide today what to do about the men of Gibeah.
8. The whole army was in agreement, and they said, “None of us will go home.
9-10. We'll send one tenth of the men from each tribe to get food for the army. And we'll ask God who should attack Gibeah, because those men deserve to be punished for committing such a horrible crime in Israel.”
11. Everyone agreed that Gibeah had to be punished.
12. The tribes of Israel sent messengers to every town and village in Benjamin. And wherever the messengers went, they said, “How could those worthless men in Gibeah do such a disgusting thing?
13. We can't allow such a terrible crime to go unpunished in Israel! Hand the men over to us, and we will put them to death.”But the people of Benjamin refused to listen to the other Israelites.
14. Men from towns all over Benjamin's territory went to Gibeah and got ready to fight Israel.
15. The Benjamin tribe had twenty-six thousand soldiers, not counting the seven hundred who were Gibeah's best warriors.
16. In this army there were seven hundred left-handed experts who could sling a stone at a target the size of a hair and hit it every time.
17. The other Israelite tribes organized their army and found they had four hundred thousand experienced soldiers.
18. So they went to the place of worship at Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should be the first to attack the people of Benjamin?”“Judah,” the Lord answered.
19. The next morning the Israelite army moved its camp to a place near Gibeah.
20. Then they left their camp and got into position to attack the army of Benjamin.
21. Benjamin's soldiers came out of Gibeah and attacked, and when the day was over, twenty-two thousand Israelite soldiers lay dead on the ground.