Κριταί 20
1 καὶ ἐξῆλθον πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐξεκκλησιάσθη ἡ συναγωγὴ ὡς ἀνὴρ εἷς ἀπὸ Δαν καὶ ἕως Βηρσαβεε καὶ γῆ τοῦ Γαλααδ πρὸς κύριον εἰς Μασσηφα
All the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, went and gathered at Mizpah before the Lord. The assembly was united in purpose.
2 καὶ ἐστάθησαν κατὰ πρόσωπον κυρίου πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τοῦ Ισραηλ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τετρακόσιαι χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν πεζῶν ἕλκοντες ῥομφαίαν
The leaders of all the people of every Israelite tribe took their assigned positions in the assembled army of God's people, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords.
3 καὶ ἤκουσαν οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν ὅτι ἀνέβησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ εἰς Μασσηφα καὶ ἐλθόντες εἶπαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ λαλήσατε ποῦ ἐγένετο ἡ πονηρία αὕτη
The tribe of Benjamin found out that the Israelites had assembled at Mizpah. The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how could such an evil act have happened?”
4 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ Λευίτης ὁ ἀνὴρ τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς φονευθείσης καὶ εἶπεν εἰς Γαβαα τῆς Βενιαμιν ἦλθον ἐγὼ καὶ ἡ παλλακή μου τοῦ αὐλισθῆναι
The Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, explained, “I and my concubine came to spend the night at the town of Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.
5 καὶ ἀνέστησαν ἐπ’ ἐμὲ οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς Γαβαα καὶ ἐκύκλωσαν ἐπ’ ἐμὲ ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν νυκτός ἐμὲ ἠθέλησαν φονεῦσαι καὶ τὴν παλλακήν μου ἐταπείνωσαν καὶ ἀπέθανεν
The leaders of Gibeah came to attack me at night. They surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine and she died.
6 καὶ ἐκράτησα τὴν παλλακήν μου καὶ ἐμέλισα αὐτὴν καὶ ἀπέστειλα ἐν παντὶ ὁρίῳ κληρονομίας υἱῶν Ισραηλ ὅτι ἐποίησαν ζεμα καὶ ἀπόπτωμα ἐν Ισραηλ
I took my concubine and cut her into pieces, and I sent these pieces of her to every part of the country that had been given to Israel, because those men had done something shameful and disgusting in Israel.
7 ἰδοὺ πάντες ὑμεῖς υἱοὶ Ισραηλ δότε ἑαυτοῖς λόγον καὶ βουλὴν ἐκεῖ
So all of you Israelites have to decide here and now what you're going to do about it!”
8 καὶ ἀνέστη πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὡς ἀνὴρ εἷς λέγοντες οὐκ ἀπελευσόμεθα ἀνὴρ εἰς σκήνωμα αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐπιστρέψομεν ἀνὴρ εἰς οἶκον αὐτοῦ
Everyone stood up and unitedly declared, “None of us are going home to our tents! None of us are going home to our houses!
9 καὶ νῦν τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ποιηθήσεται τῇ Γαβαα ἀναβησόμεθα ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἐν κλήρῳ
This is what we're going to do to Gilboah: we will attack it with our forces chosen by lot.
10 πλὴν λημψόμεθα δέκα ἄνδρας τοῖς ἑκατὸν εἰς πάσας φυλὰς Ισραηλ καὶ ἑκατὸν τοῖς χιλίοις καὶ χιλίους τοῖς μυρίοις λαβεῖν ἐπισιτισμὸν τοῦ ποιῆσαι ἐλθεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς Γαβαα Βενιαμιν ποιῆσαι αὐτῇ κατὰ πᾶν τὸ ἀπόπτωμα ὃ ἐποίησεν ἐν Ισραηλ
We'll take ten men from a hundred from all the Israelite tribes, then a hundred from a thousand, then a thousand from ten thousand, to arrange food for the army, so when the troops reach Gibeah in Benjamin, they can pay them back for all these disgusting things they've done in Israel.”
11 καὶ συνήχθη πᾶς ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὡς ἀνὴρ εἷς
All the men of Israel were in agreement and gathered to attack the town.
12 καὶ ἀπέστειλαν αἱ φυλαὶ Ισραηλ ἄνδρας ἐν πάσῃ φυλῇ Βενιαμιν λέγοντες τίς ἡ πονηρία αὕτη ἡ γενομένη ἐν ὑμῖν
The Israelite tribes also sent men throughout the territory of Benjamin, asking the people, “What are you doing about this terrible evil that has taken place among you?
13 καὶ νῦν δότε τοὺς ἄνδρας υἱοὺς παρανόμων τοὺς ἐν Γαβαα καὶ θανατώσομεν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐκκαθαριοῦμεν πονηρίαν ἀπὸ Ισραηλ καὶ οὐκ εὐδόκησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν ἀκοῦσαι τῆς φωνῆς τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ
Hand over these wicked men so we can execute them and get rid of this evil from Israel!” But the Benjamites refused to listen to what their fellow Israelites had to say.
14 καὶ συνήχθησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων αὐτῶν εἰς Γαβαα ἐξελθεῖν εἰς παράταξιν πρὸς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ
They left their towns and assembled at Gibeah to go and fight the other Israelites.
15 καὶ ἐπεσκέπησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων εἴκοσι τρεῖς χιλιάδες ἀνὴρ ἕλκων ῥομφαίαν ἐκτὸς τῶν οἰκούντων τὴν Γαβαα οἳ ἐπεσκέπησαν ἑπτακόσιοι ἄνδρες ἐκλεκτοὶ
That day a total of twenty-six thousand men armed with swords were called up from the towns of Benjamin, in addition to the seven hundred seasoned warriors from Gibeah.
16 ἐκ παντὸς λαοῦ ἀμφοτεροδέξιοι πάντες οὗτοι σφενδονῆται ἐν λίθοις πρὸς τρίχα καὶ οὐκ ἐξαμαρτάνοντες
Making up part of this army were seven hundred experienced soldiers who used their left hands. All of them could fire a slingshot and not miss by even a hair's breadth.
17 καὶ ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ ἐπεσκέπησαν ἐκτὸς τοῦ Βενιαμιν τετρακόσιαι χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν ἑλκόντων ῥομφαίαν πάντες οὗτοι ἄνδρες παρατάξεως
The Israelite army (excluding Benjamin) numbered four hundred thousand seasoned warriors, all armed with swords.
18 καὶ ἀνέστησαν καὶ ἀνέβησαν εἰς Βαιθηλ καὶ ἠρώτησαν ἐν τῷ θεῷ καὶ εἶπαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ τίς ἀναβήσεται ἡμῖν ἐν ἀρχῇ εἰς παράταξιν πρὸς υἱοὺς Βενιαμιν καὶ εἶπεν κύριος Ιουδας ἐν ἀρχῇ ἀναβήσεται ἀφηγούμενος
The Israelites went to Bethel and asked God, “Which ones of us should be the first to go and fight the Benjamites?” “Judah is to go first,” the Lord replied.
19 καὶ ἀνέστησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ τὸ πρωὶ καὶ παρενέβαλον ἐπὶ Γαβαα
The next morning the Israelites left and set up their camp near Gibeah.
20 καὶ ἐξῆλθον πᾶς ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ εἰς παράταξιν πρὸς Βενιαμιν καὶ συνῆψαν αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ Γαβαα
Then they marched out for battle with the army of Benjamin, taking up their positions to attack Gibeah.
21 καὶ ἐξῆλθον οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν ἀπὸ τῆς Γαβαα καὶ διέφθειραν ἐν Ισραηλ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ δύο καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν
But the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and slaughtered twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day.
22 καὶ ἐνίσχυσαν ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ καὶ προσέθηκαν συνάψαι παράταξιν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ὅπου συνῆψαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πρώτῃ
But the Israelites encouraged one other to be confident, and they took up the same positions they had on the first day.
23 καὶ ἀνέβησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καὶ ἔκλαυσαν ἐνώπιον κυρίου ἕως ἑσπέρας καὶ ἠρώτησαν ἐν κυρίῳ λέγοντες εἰ προσθῶμεν ἐγγίσαι εἰς παράταξιν πρὸς υἱοὺς Βενιαμιν ἀδελφοὺς ἡμῶν καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ἀνάβητε πρὸς αὐτούς
The Israelites went and cried before the Lord until the evening and asked, “Should we go and attack the Benjamites again, our relatives?” “Go and attack them,” the Lord replied.
24 καὶ προσῆλθον οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πρὸς υἱοὺς Βενιαμιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ δευτέρᾳ
So the second day they advanced to attack the army of Benjamin.
25 καὶ ἐξῆλθον οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς Γαβαα ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ δευτέρᾳ καὶ διέφθειραν ἀπὸ υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἔτι ὀκτωκαίδεκα χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν πάντες οὗτοι ἕλκοντες ῥομφαίαν
However, Benjamites came out of Gibeah once more and slaughtered eighteen thousand Israelites, all armed with swords.
26 καὶ ἀνέβησαν πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς καὶ ἦλθον εἰς Βαιθηλ καὶ ἔκλαυσαν καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐκεῖ ἐνώπιον κυρίου καὶ ἐνήστευσαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἕως ἑσπέρας καὶ ἀνήνεγκαν ὁλοκαυτώσεις καὶ τελείας ἐνώπιον κυρίου
Then all the Israelites and all their army went to Bethel, and sat crying there before the Lord. That day they fasted until evening and gave burnt offerings and friendship offerings to the Lord.
27 ὅτι ἐκεῖ κιβωτὸς διαθήκης κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ
The Israelites asked the Lord what to do. At that time the Ark of God's Agreement was kept there.
28 καὶ Φινεες υἱὸς Ελεαζαρ υἱοῦ Ααρων παρεστηκὼς ἐνώπιον αὐτῆς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ ἐπηρώτησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἐν κυρίῳ λέγοντες εἰ προσθῶμεν ἔτι ἐξελθεῖν εἰς παράταξιν πρὸς υἱοὺς Βενιαμιν ἀδελφοὺς ἡμῶν ἢ ἐπίσχωμεν καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ἀνάβητε ὅτι αὔριον δώσω αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰς χεῖρας ὑμῶν
Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, was the priest. The Israelites asked the Lord, “Should go and we fight again against our relatives from Benjamin, or not?” “Yes, go! Tomorrow I will hand them over to you,” the Lord replied.
29 καὶ ἔθηκαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἔνεδρα τῇ Γαβαα κύκλῳ
Then the Israelites set up an ambush around Gibeah.
30 καὶ ἀνέβησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πρὸς υἱοὺς Βενιαμιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ καὶ συνῆψαν πρὸς τὴν Γαβαα ὡς ἅπαξ καὶ ἅπαξ
On the third day they took up the same positions they had as before.
31 καὶ ἐξῆλθον οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν εἰς συνάντησιν τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ ἐξεκενώθησαν τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἤρξαντο πατάσσειν ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ τραυματίας ὡς ἅπαξ καὶ ἅπαξ ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς ἥ ἐστιν μία ἀναβαίνουσα εἰς Βαιθηλ καὶ μία εἰς Γαβαα ἐν ἀγρῷ ὡς τριάκοντα ἄνδρας ἐν Ισραηλ
The Benjamites came out to attack them and were lured away from the town as they began to kill Israelites as they had before. Some thirty Israelites died on the battlefield and along the roads, the one that goes towards Bethel and the other that goes back towards Gibeah.
32 καὶ εἶπαν οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν πίπτουσιν ἐνώπιον ἡμῶν ὡς τὸ πρῶτον καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ εἶπον φύγωμεν καὶ ἐκκενώσωμεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως εἰς τὰς ὁδούς καὶ ἐποίησαν οὕτως
“We're defeating them, just like before,” the Benjamites shouted. But the Israelites said, “Let's run away from them and lure them away from the town towards the roads.”
33 καὶ πᾶς ἀνὴρ ἀνέστη ἐκ τοῦ τόπου αὐτοῦ καὶ συνῆψαν ἐν Βααλθαμαρ καὶ τὸ ἔνεδρον Ισραηλ ἐπήρχετο ἐκ τοῦ τόπου αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ Μααραγαβε
The main army of Israelites left where they were and took up positions at Baal-tamar, while those in the ambush west of Gibeah charged out to attack from where they had been hiding.
34 καὶ ἦλθον ἐξ ἐναντίας Γαβαα δέκα χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν ἐκλεκτῶν ἐκ παντὸς Ισραηλ καὶ παράταξις βαρεῖα καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ὅτι φθάνει ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ἡ κακία
Ten thousand seasoned Israelite warriors attacked Gibeah, and the fighting was so intense the Benjamites didn't realize they were on the brink of disaster.
35 καὶ ἐπάταξεν κύριος τὸν Βενιαμιν ἐνώπιον υἱῶν Ισραηλ καὶ διέφθειραν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἐκ τοῦ Βενιαμιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε χιλιάδας καὶ ἑκατὸν ἄνδρας πάντες οὗτοι εἷλκον ῥομφαίαν
So the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel. That day the Israelites killed twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites, all armed with swords.
36 καὶ εἶδον οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν ὅτι ἐπλήγησαν καὶ ἔδωκεν ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ τόπον τῷ Βενιαμιν ὅτι ἤλπισαν πρὸς τὸ ἔνεδρον ὃ ἔθηκαν ἐπὶ τὴν Γαβαα
The Benjamites saw that they were defeated. The Israelites had fallen back before the Benjamites because they were confident the ambush they had put in place near Gibeah would be successful.
37 καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτοὺς ὑποχωρῆσαι καὶ τὸ ἔνεδρον ἐκινήθη καὶ ἐξέτειναν ἐπὶ τὴν Γαβαα καὶ ἐξεχύθη τὸ ἔνεδρον καὶ ἐπάταξαν τὴν πόλιν ἐν στόματι ῥομφαίας
The men from the ambush raced to attack the town, and they killed everyone in it.
38 καὶ σημεῖον ἦν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ μετὰ τοῦ ἐνέδρου τῆς μάχης ἀνενέγκαι αὐτοὺς σύσσημον καπνοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως
The agreement was that they would send up a great cloud of smoke to show the town had fallen.
39 καὶ εἶδον οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ὅτι προκατελάβετο τὸ ἔνεδρον τὴν Γαβαα καὶ ἔστησαν ἐν τῇ παρατάξει καὶ Βενιαμιν ἤρξατο πατάσσειν τραυματίας ἐν ἀνδράσιν Ισραηλ ὡς τριάκοντα ἄνδρας ὅτι εἶπαν πάλιν πτώσει πίπτουσιν ἐνώπιον ἡμῶν ὡς ἡ παράταξις ἡ πρώτη
The Israelite army turned to attack the Benjamites, who had already killed about thirty Israelites. The Benjamites were saying, “We're completely defeating them, just like the first battle!”
40 καὶ τὸ σύσσημον ἀνέβη ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως ὡς στῦλος καπνοῦ καὶ ἐπέβλεψεν Βενιαμιν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνέβη ἡ συντέλεια τῆς πόλεως ἕως οὐρανοῦ
However, when the Israelites saw the columns of smoke rising heavenwards to form a great cloud over the whole of the town,
41 καὶ ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ ἐπέστρεψεν καὶ ἔσπευσαν ἄνδρες Βενιαμιν ὅτι εἶδον ὅτι συνήντησεν ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ἡ πονηρία
they turned on their enemies. The Benjamites were horrified when they saw it and realized they were doomed.
42 καὶ ἐπέβλεψαν ἐνώπιον υἱῶν Ισραηλ εἰς ὁδὸν τῆς ἐρήμου καὶ ἔφυγον καὶ ἡ παράταξις ἔφθασεν ἐπ’ αὐτούς καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων διέφθειρον αὐτοὺς ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν
They turned and ran from the Israelites towards the desert, but the battle caught up with them, and the Israelites also killed those who left the towns on the way.
43 καὶ κατέκοπτον τὸν Βενιαμιν καὶ ἐδίωξαν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ Νουα κατὰ πόδα αὐτοῦ ἕως ἀπέναντι Γαβαα πρὸς ἀνατολὰς ἡλίου
Chasing after the Benjamites, the Israelites surrounded them, easily overtaking them east of Gibeah.
44 καὶ ἔπεσαν ἀπὸ Βενιαμιν δέκα ὀκτὼ χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν οἱ πάντες οὗτοι ἄνδρες δυνάμεως
Eighteen thousand Benjamites were killed, all of them courageous warriors.
45 καὶ ἐπέβλεψαν οἱ λοιποὶ καὶ ἔφευγον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον πρὸς τὴν πέτραν τοῦ Ρεμμων καὶ ἐκαλαμήσαντο ἐξ αὐτῶν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πεντακισχιλίους ἄνδρας καὶ κατέβησαν ὀπίσω αὐτῶν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἕως Γεδαν καὶ ἐπάταξαν ἐξ αὐτῶν δισχιλίους ἄνδρας
Some of the Benjamites that were left ran towards Pomegranate Rock in the desert, and the Israelites killed another five thousand men on the way. They chased another group of Benjamites as far as Gidom and killed another thousand.
46 καὶ ἐγένοντο πάντες οἱ πίπτοντες ἀπὸ Βενιαμιν εἴκοσι πέντε χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν ἑλκόντων ῥομφαίαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ οἱ πάντες οὗτοι ἄνδρες δυνάμεως
So that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite were killed, all armed with swords and all courageous warriors.
47 καὶ ἐπέβλεψαν οἱ λοιποὶ καὶ ἔφυγον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον πρὸς τὴν πέτραν τοῦ Ρεμμων ἑξακόσιοι ἄνδρες καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐν πέτρᾳ Ρεμμων τέσσαρας μῆνας
There were six hundred who ran away to Pomegranate Rock in the desert and they stayed there four months.
48 καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἐπέστρεψαν πρὸς υἱοὺς Βενιαμιν καὶ ἐπάταξαν αὐτοὺς ἐν στόματι ῥομφαίας ἀπὸ πόλεως Μεθλα καὶ ἕως κτήνους καὶ ἕως παντὸς τοῦ εὑρισκομένου εἰς πάσας τὰς πόλεις καὶ τὰς πόλεις τὰς εὑρεθείσας ἐνέπρησαν ἐν πυρί
The Israelites went back into the territory of the Benjamites, and going from town to town, they killed everything: people, animals, everything they found. Then they burned down every town on their way.
