5. During the night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house. They were planning to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died.
6. "I took my concubine and cut her into pieces. I sent one piece to each part of Israel's territory. I did it because they had done a very terrible thing in Israel.
7. All of you men of Israel, speak up now. Give your decision."
8. All of the men got up together. They said, "None of us will go home. Not one of us will return to his house.
9. Here is what we'll do to Gibeah. We'll use lots to tell us how to attack the city.
10. We'll take ten men out of every 100 from all of the tribes of Israel. We'll take 100 from every 1,000. We'll take 1,000 from every 10,000. The men we take will get supplies for the army. Then the army will go to Gibeah in Benjamin. They'll give Gibeah exactly what they should get because of the evil thing they did in Israel."
11. So all of the men of Israel came together to fight against the city.
12. The tribes of Israel sent men through the whole tribe of Benjamin. They said, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you?
13. Hand over those evil men of Gibeah. We'll put them to death. In that way we'll get rid of those evil people." But the people of Benjamin wouldn't listen to the other people of Israel.
14. They came together at Gibeah from their towns. They came to fight against the other people of Israel.
15. Right away the people of Benjamin gathered together 26,000 men from their towns. They were carrying swords. The men were added to the 700 who had been chosen from those who were living in Gibeah.
16. Among all of those men there were 700 who were left-handed. Each of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17. Israel gathered 400,000 men together. They were carrying swords. All of them were fighting men. That number didn't include the tribe of Benjamin.
18. The people of Israel went up to Bethel. There they spoke to God. They asked him, "Who will go up first and fight for us against the people of Benjamin?" The Lord answered, "The tribe of Judah will go first."
19. The next morning the people of Israel got up. They set up camp near Gibeah.
20. The men of Israel went out to fight against the men of Benjamin. They took up their battle positions against them at Gibeah.
21. The men of Benjamin came out of Gibeah. They killed 22,000 men of Israel on the field of battle that day.
22. But the men of Israel cheered each other on. They again took up their positions in the places where they had been the first day.
23. The men of Israel went and sobbed in the sight of the Lord until evening. They spoke to the Lord. They asked, "Should we go up again to fight against the men of Benjamin? They are our fellow Israelites." The Lord answered, "Go up and fight against them."
24. The men of Israel came near the men of Benjamin on the second day.
25. The men of Benjamin came out from Gibeah to oppose them. That time they killed 18,000 more men of Israel. All of the men who died had been carrying swords.