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 Israelis, from Dan [city in the north] to Beersheba [city in the south], and even from [the] Gilead [region on the east side of the Jordan River, heard what had happened. So they] they gathered together at Mizpah, [at the place where they worshiped] Yahweh.

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 [eleven of] the tribes of Israel stood in front of the people who gathered there. There were 400,000 men with swords who were there.

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 people of the tribe of Benjamin heard that the other Israelis had gone up to Mizpah, [but none of the men from their tribe went to the meeting there]. The Israelis who had come to Mizpah asked about the evil thing that had 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

So the husband of the woman who had been killed replied, “My slave wife and I came to Gibeah [city], wanting to stay there that night.

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

That evening, the men of Gibeah came to attack me. They surrounded the house [where I was staying] and wanted to [have sex with me and then] kill me. They [raped and] abused my slave wife [all night], 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 her body home and cut it into pieces. Then I sent one piece to each area of Israel, [because I wanted you all to know about] this wicked and disgraceful/shameful thing [that] has been done here in Israel.

7 ἰδοὺ πάντες ὑμεῖς υἱοὶ Ισραηλ δότε ἑαυτοῖς λόγον καὶ βουλὴν ἐκεῖ

So now, all you Israeli people, speak, and tell me what you think should be done!”

8 καὶ ἀνέστη πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὡς ἀνὴρ εἷς λέγοντες οὐκ ἀπελευσόμεθα ἀνὴρ εἰς σκήνωμα αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐπιστρέψομεν ἀνὴρ εἰς οἶκον αὐτοῦ

All the people stood up, and in unison said, “None of us will go home! Not one of us will return to his house!

9 καὶ νῦν τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ποιηθήσεται τῇ Γαβαα ἀναβησόμεθα ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἐν κλήρῳ

This is what we must do to [the people of] Gibeah. First, we will (cast lots/throw marked stones) [to determine which group should attack them].

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 will choose (one tenth/one from every ten) of the men from all the Israeli tribes. Those men will go and find food for the men who will go to attack the people of Gibeah. Then the other men will go to Gibeah to (pay the people back/punish them) for this terrible thing that they have done [here] in Israel.”

11 καὶ συνήχθη πᾶς ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὡς ἀνὴρ εἷς

And all the Israeli people agreed [that the people of Gibeah should be punished].

12 καὶ ἀπέστειλαν αἱ φυλαὶ Ισραηλ ἄνδρας ἐν πάσῃ φυλῇ Βενιαμιν λέγοντες τίς ἡ πονηρία αὕτη ἡ γενομένη ἐν ὑμῖν

Then the Israeli men sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin. They demanded, “Do you realize that some of your men have done a very evil thing?

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

Bring those wicked men to us, in order that we can execute them. [By doing that], we will be doing what should be done because of this evil thing that has happened in Israel.” But the [people of the] tribe of Benjamin did not pay attention to their fellow Israelis.

14 καὶ συνήχθησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Βενιαμιν ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων αὐτῶν εἰς Γαβαα ἐξελθεῖν εἰς παράταξιν πρὸς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ

The men of the tribe of Benjamin left their cities and gathered at Gibeah to fight the [other] Israelis.

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

In that one day the men of the tribe of Benjamin recruited 26,000 soldiers who knew how to fight using swords. They also chose/recruited 700 men from Gibeah.

16 ἐκ παντὸς λαοῦ ἀμφοτεροδέξιοι πάντες οὗτοι σφενδονῆται ἐν λίθοις πρὸς τρίχα καὶ οὐκ ἐξαμαρτάνοντες

From all those soldiers there were 700 men who were left-handed, and each of them could sling a stone at [a target that was very small and as narrow as] a hair, and the stone always hit the target!

17 καὶ ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ ἐπεσκέπησαν ἐκτὸς τοῦ Βενιαμιν τετρακόσιαι χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν ἑλκόντων ῥομφαίαν πάντες οὗτοι ἄνδρες παρατάξεως

There were 400,000 men from the other Israeli tribes who had 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

Those other Israelis went up to Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should be the first to attack the men from the tribe of Benjamin?” Yahweh answered, “[The men from the tribe of] Judah should go first.”

19 καὶ ἀνέστησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ τὸ πρωὶ καὶ παρενέβαλον ἐπὶ Γαβαα

The next morning, the Israeli men went and set up their tents near Gibeah.

20 καὶ ἐξῆλθον πᾶς ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ εἰς παράταξιν πρὸς Βενιαμιν καὶ συνῆψαν αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ Γαβαα

Then they went to fight against [the men from the tribe of] Benjamin, and stood in their positions for fighting a battle, [facing 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

The men of the tribe of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and fought against them, and they killed 22,000 Israeli men on that day.

22 καὶ ἐνίσχυσαν ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ καὶ προσέθηκαν συνάψαι παράταξιν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ὅπου συνῆψαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πρώτῃ

[Late that afternoon], the [remaining] Israeli men went to the place of worship and cried until the sun set. Then they asked Yahweh, “Should we attack the men of the tribe of Benjamin again, even though they are our fellow Israelis?” Yahweh replied, “Yes, attack them again.” So the Israeli men encouraged each other.

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

24 καὶ προσῆλθον οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πρὸς υἱοὺς Βενιαμιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ δευτέρᾳ

The next day they again stood in their positions for fighting, just like they had done on the previous day.

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

The men of the tribe of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and attacked the Israelis, and killed 18,000 more of their men.

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

[In the afternoon], all the people of Israel [who had not been killed] again went to Bethel. There they sat down and cried to Yahweh, and they (fasted/abstained from eating food) until it was evening. They brought some offerings which they burned completely [on the altar], and they also brought some offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh.

27 ὅτι ἐκεῖ κιβωτὸς διαθήκης κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ

At that time, the Sacred Chest that contained the stone tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments was there at Bethel. A priest named Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, often stood in front of that chest [and talked with Yahweh]. While he stood there on that day, he asked Yahweh, “Shall we go again to fight against our fellow Israelis from the tribe of Benjamin, or shall we stop fighting against them?” Yahweh answered, “Go again tomorrow, because tomorrow I will enable you to defeat them.”

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

29 καὶ ἔθηκαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἔνεδρα τῇ Γαβαα κύκλῳ

So [the next day, 10,000 of] the Israeli men (set up ambushes/went to hide) [in the fields] 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

The [other] Israeli men went and stood in their positions for fighting a battle just like they had done on the previous days.

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

When the men of the tribe of Benjamin came out of the city to fight against them, the Israeli men retreated away from the city, and the men of the tribe of Benjamin pursued them. The men of the tribe of Benjamin killed many Israelis, like they had done before. They killed about 30 Israelis. They killed some in the fields, and they killed some on the road that went to Bethel and on the road that went to 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

The men of the tribe of Benjamin said, “We are defeating them like we did before!” But then Israeli men did what they had planned. The main group of Israeli men retreated a short distance from the city, to [trick] the men of Gibeah and cause them to pursue the Israeli men along the roads outside the city.

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 group of Israeli men left their positions and retreated, and then they stood in their battle positions again at a place named Baal-Tamar.

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

Then [while the men of Gibeah were running out of the city toward them], the other 10,000 Israelis came out from the places where they had been hiding, west of Gibeah. They were men who had come from all parts of Israel. There was a very big battle. But the men of the tribe of Benjamin did not know that they were about to suffer a disastrous defeat.

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

Yahweh enabled the Israeli men to defeat the men of the tribe of Benjamin. They killed 25,000 of them, even though they all were using swords. [This is what happened]:

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 main group of Israeli men arranged with the men who would be hiding that they should send up a smoke signal to enable the main group of soldiers to know when they should attack. Then the main group of Israeli men retreated for a short distance, because they knew that the other Israeli men who had been hiding on the other side of Gibeah would attack the people of the tribe of Benjamin by surprise. So [after the main group of Israeli men retreated a little distance], the men who had been hiding rushed out and ran into Gibeah and used their swords to kill everyone in the city. [Then they started to burn the buildings].

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

38 καὶ σημεῖον ἦν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ μετὰ τοῦ ἐνέδρου τῆς μάχης ἀνενέγκαι αὐτοὺς σύσσημον καπνοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως

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

By that time, the men of the tribe of Benjamin said, “We are winning the battle, as we did before!”

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

But then smoke [from the burning buildings] began to rise up from the city. The men of the tribe of Benjamin turned around and saw that the whole city was burning.

41 καὶ ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ ἐπέστρεψεν καὶ ἔσπευσαν ἄνδρες Βενιαμιν ὅτι εἶδον ὅτι συνήντησεν ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ἡ πονηρία

Then the main group of Israeli men [also saw the smoke, and they knew that the smoke signaled that they should] turn around and begin to attack. The men of the tribe of Benjamin were very afraid, because they realized that they were about to suffer a disastrous defeat.

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

So the men of the tribe of Benjamin tried to run away toward the desert to escape from the Israeli men, but they were not able to escape, because the Israeli men who had burned the two cities came out of those cities and killed many of them.

43 καὶ κατέκοπτον τὸν Βενιαμιν καὶ ἐδίωξαν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ Νουα κατὰ πόδα αὐτοῦ ἕως ἀπέναντι Γαβαα πρὸς ἀνατολὰς ἡλίου

They surrounded [some of] the men of the tribe of Benjamin, and pursued the others to the area east of Gibeah.

44 καὶ ἔπεσαν ἀπὸ Βενιαμιν δέκα ὀκτὼ χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν οἱ πάντες οὗτοι ἄνδρες δυνάμεως

They killed 18,000 strong soldiers of the tribe of Benjamin.

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

Then the rest of the men of the tribe of Benjamin realized that they had been defeated. They ran toward the desert to Rimmon Rock, but the Israeli men killed 5,000 more men of the tribe of Benjamin along the roads. They pursued the rest of them to Gidom, and they killed 2,000 more men of the tribe of Benjamin there.

46 καὶ ἐγένοντο πάντες οἱ πίπτοντες ἀπὸ Βενιαμιν εἴκοσι πέντε χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν ἑλκόντων ῥομφαίαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ οἱ πάντες οὗτοι ἄνδρες δυνάμεως

Altogether, there were 25,000 men of the tribe of Benjamin who were killed, all of whom had swords.

47 καὶ ἐπέβλεψαν οἱ λοιποὶ καὶ ἔφυγον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον πρὸς τὴν πέτραν τοῦ Ρεμμων ἑξακόσιοι ἄνδρες καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐν πέτρᾳ Ρεμμων τέσσαρας μῆνας

But 600 men of the tribe of Benjamin ran to Rimmon Rock in the desert. They stayed there for 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

Then the Israeli men went back to the land belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, and killed the people in every city. They also killed all the animals, and destroyed everything else that they found there. And they burned all the cities that they came to.