Daily Text and Bible Reading: Monday, March 24 [Press play below]

20.1 Consequently, all the Israelites came out from Dan down to Beer-sheba and from the land of Gilead, and the entire assembly gathered unitedly before Jehovah at Mizpah.
20.2 So the chiefs of the people and all the tribes of Israel took their places in the congregation of God’s people—400,000 foot soldiers armed with swords.
20.3 The Benjaminites heard that the men of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. Then the men of Israel said: “Tell us, how did this terrible thing happen?”
20.4 At this the Levite man, the husband of the murdered woman, said in answer: “I came to Gibeah of Benjamin with my concubine to stay overnight.
20.5 And the inhabitants of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house by night. They meant to kill me, but they raped my concubine instead, and she died.
20.6 So I took my concubine’s body and cut it up and sent the pieces into every part of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a shameful and disgraceful act in Israel.
20.7 Now all you people of Israel, give your advice and counsel here.”
20.8 Then all the people rose up in unison and said: “Not one of us will go to his tent or return to his house.
20.9 Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot.
20.10 We will take 10 men out of 100 from all the tribes of Israel, and 100 out of 1,000 and 1,000 out of 10,000 to collect provisions for the army, so that they may take action against Gibeah of Benjamin, in view of the disgraceful act that they committed in Israel.”
20.11 Thus all the men of Israel were gathered against the city united as allies.
20.12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men to all the tribesmen of Benjamin, saying: “What is this terrible thing that has happened among you?
20.13 Now hand over the worthless men from Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and clear out what is bad from Israel.” But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.
20.14 Then the Benjaminites gathered together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the men of Israel.
20.15 That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities 26,000 men armed with swords, apart from the 700 chosen men of Gibeah.
20.16 In this army were 700 chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of these men could sling a stone to within a hairbreadth and would not miss.
20.17 The men of Israel apart from Benjamin mustered 400,000 men armed with swords, and each one was an experienced warrior.
20.18 They rose up and went up to Bethel to inquire of God. Then the people of Israel said: “Who of us should go up in the lead to the battle against the Benjaminites?” Jehovah replied: “Judah is to take the lead.”
20.19 After that the Israelites rose up in the morning and camped against Gibeah.
20.20 The men of Israel now went out to battle against Benjamin; they drew up in battle formation against them at Gibeah.
20.21 So the Benjaminites came out from Gibeah and struck down 22,000 men of Israel on that day.
20.22 However, the army of the men of Israel showed themselves courageous and again drew up in battle formation in the same place as on the first day.
20.23 Then the Israelites went up and wept before Jehovah until the evening and inquired of Jehovah: “Should we again go into battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?” To this Jehovah said: “Go up against them.”
20.24 So the Israelites drew near to the Benjaminites on the second day.
20.25 In turn Benjamin came out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day and struck down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
20.26 At that all the men of Israel went up to Bethel. They wept and sat there before Jehovah, and they fasted on that day until the evening and offered up burnt offerings and communion offerings before Jehovah.
20.27 After that the men of Israel inquired of Jehovah, for the ark of the covenant of the true God was there in those days.
20.28 Now Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was ministering before it in those days. They asked: “Should we go out yet again to battle against our brothers, the men of Benjamin, or should we stop?” Jehovah replied: “Go up, because tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”
20.29 Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah.
20.30 The Israelites went up against the Benjaminites on the third day, and they drew up in formation against Gibeah the same as at the other times.
20.31 When the Benjaminites went out to meet the army, they were drawn away from the city. Then, as at the other times, they started to attack and kill some of the men on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, leaving about 30 men of Israel dead in the open field.
20.32 So the Benjaminites said: “They are suffering defeat before us the same as before.” But the Israelites said: “We will retreat and draw them away from the city onto the highways.”
20.33 So all the men of Israel rose up from their places and drew up in formation at Baal-tamar while the Israelite ambush charged out of their places in the vicinity of Gibeah.
20.34 Thus 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel came in front of Gibeah, and the fighting was heavy. But the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was near at hand.
20.35 Jehovah defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 men in Benjamin, all of them armed with swords.
20.36 However, the Benjaminites imagined that the men of Israel would be defeated when they retreated from Benjamin, but they retreated because they trusted in the ambush that was set against Gibeah.
20.37 The ambush acted quickly and charged toward Gibeah. Then the ambush spread out and struck down the whole city with the sword.
20.38 Now the men of Israel had arranged that the men who ambushed the city would make a smoke signal go up from there.
20.39 When the Israelites turned around in the battle, the men of Benjamin started by attacking and killing about 30 men of Israel, and they said: “They are clearly suffering another defeat before us, just as in the previous battle.”
20.40 But the signal started to go up from the city as a pillar of smoke. When the men of Benjamin turned to look, they saw the whole city going up in flames to the sky.
20.41 Then the men of Israel made an about-face, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster had overtaken them.
20.42 So they retreated from the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle followed them; the men coming out of the cities joined in striking them down.
20.43 They surrounded the Benjaminites and pursued them relentlessly. They trampled them down directly in front of Gibeah toward the east.
20.44 Finally 18,000 men of Benjamin fell, all mighty warriors.
20.45 The men of Benjamin turned and fled into the wilderness to the crag of Rimmon, and the Israelites killed 5,000 of them on the highways, and they kept pursuing them as far as Gidom; so they struck down 2,000 more men.
20.46 All those of Benjamin who fell on that day amounted to 25,000 men armed with swords, all mighty warriors.
20.47 But 600 retreated into the wilderness to the crag of Rimmon, and they stayed on the crag of Rimmon for four months.
20.48 And the men of Israel turned back against the Benjaminites and struck those of the city with the sword, from men to livestock, all that remained. Also, they set all the cities in their path on fire.

21.1 Now the men of Israel had sworn this oath in Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter to a man from Benjamin as a wife.”
21.2 Consequently, the people came to Bethel and sat there before the true God until evening, crying out and weeping bitterly.
21.3 And they were saying: “Why, O Jehovah the God of Israel, has this happened in Israel? Why should one tribe be missing today from Israel?”
21.4 And the next day the people got up early and built an altar there to offer up burnt offerings and communion offerings.
21.5 Then the people of Israel said: “Who of all the tribes of Israel did not come up to assemble before Jehovah?” for they had taken a great oath that anyone who did not come up to Jehovah at Mizpah would be put to death without fail.
21.6 So the people of Israel felt sorrow over what had happened to Benjamin their brother. They said: “Today one tribe has been chopped off from Israel.
21.7 What should we do to provide wives for those who are left, now that we have sworn by Jehovah not to give them any of our daughters as wives?”
21.8 They asked: “Who among the tribes of Israel did not come up to Jehovah at Mizpah?” It so happened that no one had come from Jabesh-gilead into the camp where the congregation was.
21.9 When the people were counted, they saw that none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead were there.
21.10 So the assembly sent there 12,000 of the mightiest men. They commanded them: “Go and strike down the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, even the women and the children.
21.11 This is what you should do: Every male, as well as every woman who has had sexual relations with a male, you should devote to destruction.”
21.12 Among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, they found 400 girls who were virgins, who had never had sexual relations with a man. So they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
21.13 Then all the assembly sent a message to the Benjaminites on the crag of Rimmon and offered them peace.
21.14 So Benjamin came back at that time. They gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they did not find enough for them.
21.15 And the people felt sorrow over what had happened to Benjamin because Jehovah had made a division among the tribes of Israel.
21.16 The elders of the assembly said: “What should we do to provide wives for the remaining men, since all the women were annihilated out of Benjamin?”
21.17 They replied: “There should be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe may not be wiped out of Israel.
21.18 But we are not allowed to give them wives from our daughters, because the people of Israel have sworn: ‘Cursed is the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’”
21.19 Then they said: “Look! There is a festival of Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel and east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem and south of Lebonah.”
21.20 So they commanded the men of Benjamin: “Go and set an ambush in the vineyards.
21.21 And when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to join in their circle dances, each of you should come out from the vineyards and seize a wife from the young women of Shiloh, and you should return to the land of Benjamin.
21.22 And should their fathers or their brothers come to make a complaint against us, we will then tell them, ‘Show us favor for their sakes, because we could not provide each one a wife by war and you could not give a wife to them without becoming guilty.’”
21.23 So the men of Benjamin did just that, and they each carried off a wife from the women who were dancing. After that they went back to their inheritance and rebuilt their cities and settled in them.
21.24 And the Israelites dispersed from there at that time, each one to his tribe and his family, and they departed from there, each one to his inheritance.
21.25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Each one was doing what was right in his own eyes.