Judges 20:33-48

Resolve to Punish the Guilty

³³Then all the men of Israel rose from their place and lined up at Baal-tamar; and the men of Israel in ambush charged from their place, from Maareh-geba. ³⁴When ten thousand choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle became fierce; but Benjamin did not know that disaster was close to them. ³⁵And the Lord struck Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day, all who drew the sword.

³⁶So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. When the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah, ³⁷the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush also deployed and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. ³⁸Now the agreed sign between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city. ³⁹Then the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, for they said, “Undoubtedly they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” ⁴⁰But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, Benjamin looked behind them; and behold, the entire city was going up in smoke to heaven. ⁴¹Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified; for they saw that disaster was close to them. ⁴²Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel to flee in the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them while those who attacked from the cities were annihilating them in the midst of them. ⁴³They surrounded Benjamin, pursued them without rest, and trampled them down opposite Gibeah toward the east. ⁴⁴So eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all of these were valiant men. ⁴⁵The rest turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, but they caught five thousand of them on the roads and overtook them at Gidom, and killed two thousand of them. ⁴⁶So all those of Benjamin who fell that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were valiant men. ⁴⁷But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months. ⁴⁸The men of Israel then turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.