Bible in Basic English
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Beth-el, weeping and waiting there before the Lord, going without food all day till evening, and offering burned offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.
And the children of Israel made request to the Lord, (for the ark of the agreement of the Lord was there in those days,
And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was in his place before it,) and said, Am I still to go on with the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother, or am I to give it up? And the Lord said, Go on; for tomorrow I will give him into your hands.
So Israel put men secretly all round Gibeah to make a surprise attack on it.
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in fighting order against Gibeah as before.
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, moving away from the town; and as before, at their first attack, they put to death about thirty men of Israel on the highways, of which one goes up to Beth-el and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country.
And the children of Benjamin said, They are giving way before us as at first. But the children of Israel said, Let us go in flight and get them away from the town, into the highways.
So all the men of Israel got up and put themselves in fighting order at Baal-tamar: and those who had been waiting secretly to make a surprise attack came rushing out of their place on the west of Geba.
And they came in front of Gibeah, ten thousand of the best men in all Israel, and the fighting became more violent; but the children of Benjamin were not conscious that evil was coming on them.
Then the Lord sent sudden fear on Benjamin before Israel; and that day the children of Israel put to death twenty-five thousand, one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them swordsmen.
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were overcome: and the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, putting their faith in the watchers who were to make the surprise attack on Gibeah.
And the watchers, rushing on Gibeah and overrunning it, put all the town to the sword without mercy.
Now the sign fixed between the men of Israel and those making the surprise attack was that when they made a pillar of smoke go up from the town,
The men of Israel were to make a turn about in the fight. And Benjamin had overcome and put to death about thirty of the men of Israel, and were saying, Certainly they are falling back before us as in the first fight.
Then the sign went up out of the town in the pillar of smoke, and the Benjamites, turning back, saw all the town going up in smoke to heaven.
And the men of Israel had made a turn about, and the men of Benjamin were overcome with fear, for they saw that evil had overtaken them.
So turning their backs on the men of Israel, they went in the direction of the waste land; but the fight overtook them; and those who came out of the town were heading them off and putting them to the sword.
And crushing Benjamin down, they went after them, driving them from Nohah as far as the east side of Gibeah.
Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin came to their death, all strong men of war.
And turning, they went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land: and on the highways five thousand of them were cut off by the men of Israel, who, pushing on hard after them to Geba, put to death two thousand more.
So twenty-five thousand of the swordsmen of Benjamin came to their end that day, all strong men of war.
But six hundred men, turning back, went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land, and were living on the rock of Rimmon for four months.
And the men of Israel, turning again against the children of Benjamin, put to the sword without mercy all the towns and the cattle and everything there was, burning every town which came into their hands.
— Judges 20:26-1964, Bible in Basic English
“So all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They wept and sat there before the LORD; they did not eat anything that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace to the LORD. The Israelites asked the LORD(for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days; Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the LORD in those days),“Should we once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers, or should we quit?” The LORD said,“Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.” So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah. The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day; they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before. The Benjaminites attacked the army, leaving the city unguarded. They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before. On the main roads(one leads to Bethel, the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down about thirty Israelites. Then the Benjaminites said,“They are defeated just as before.” But the Israelites said,“Let’s retreat and lure them away from the city into the main roads.” All the men of Israel got up from their places and took their positions at Baal Tamar, while the Israelites hiding in ambush jumped out of their places west of Gibeah. Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah– the battle was fierce. But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep. The LORD annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites. Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated.The Israelites retreated before Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah. The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city. The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal. When the men hiding in ambush sent up a smoke signal from the city, the Israelites counterattacked. Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; they struck down about thirty men. They said,“There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.” But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky. When the Israelites turned around, the Benjaminites panicked because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep. They retreated before the Israelites, taking the road to the wilderness. But the battle overtook them as men from the surrounding cities struck them down. They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, and annihilated them all the way to a spot east of Geba. Eighteen thousand Benjaminites, all of them capable warriors, fell dead. The rest turned and ran toward the wilderness, heading toward the cliff of Rimmon. But the Israelites caught five thousand of them on the main roads. They stayed right on their heels all the way to Gidom and struck down two thousand more. That day twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors. Six hundred survivors turned and ran away to the wilderness, to the cliff of Rimmon. They stayed there four months. The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path.”
Now the children of Israel went up, weeping before the Lord till evening, requesting the Lord and saying, Am I to go forward again to the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him.
So the children of Israel went forward against the children of Benjamin the second day.
And the second day Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah, cutting down eighteen thousand men of the children of Israel, all swordsmen.
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Beth-el, weeping and waiting there before the Lord, going without food all day till evening, and offering burned offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.
And the children of Israel made request to the Lord, (for the ark of the agreement of the Lord was there in those days,
And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was in his place before it,) and said, Am I still to go on with the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother, or am I to give it up? And the Lord said, Go on; for tomorrow I will give him into your hands.
So Israel put men secretly all round Gibeah to make a surprise attack on it.
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in fighting order against Gibeah as before.
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, moving away from the town; and as before, at their first attack, they put to death about thirty men of Israel on the highways, of which one goes up to Beth-el and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country.
And the children of Benjamin said, They are giving way before us as at first. But the children of Israel said, Let us go in flight and get them away from the town, into the highways.
So all the men of Israel got up and put themselves in fighting order at Baal-tamar: and those who had been waiting secretly to make a surprise attack came rushing out of their place on the west of Geba.
And they came in front of Gibeah, ten thousand of the best men in all Israel, and the fighting became more violent; but the children of Benjamin were not conscious that evil was coming on them.
Then the Lord sent sudden fear on Benjamin before Israel; and that day the children of Israel put to death twenty-five thousand, one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them swordsmen.
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were overcome: and the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, putting their faith in the watchers who were to make the surprise attack on Gibeah.
And the watchers, rushing on Gibeah and overrunning it, put all the town to the sword without mercy.
Now the sign fixed between the men of Israel and those making the surprise attack was that when they made a pillar of smoke go up from the town,
The men of Israel were to make a turn about in the fight. And Benjamin had overcome and put to death about thirty of the men of Israel, and were saying, Certainly they are falling back before us as in the first fight.
Then the sign went up out of the town in the pillar of smoke, and the Benjamites, turning back, saw all the town going up in smoke to heaven.
And the men of Israel had made a turn about, and the men of Benjamin were overcome with fear, for they saw that evil had overtaken them.
So turning their backs on the men of Israel, they went in the direction of the waste land; but the fight overtook them; and those who came out of the town were heading them off and putting them to the sword.
And crushing Benjamin down, they went after them, driving them from Nohah as far as the east side of Gibeah.
Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin came to their death, all strong men of war.
And turning, they went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land: and on the highways five thousand of them were cut off by the men of Israel, who, pushing on hard after them to Geba, put to death two thousand more.
So twenty-five thousand of the swordsmen of Benjamin came to their end that day, all strong men of war.
But six hundred men, turning back, went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land, and were living on the rock of Rimmon for four months.
And the men of Israel, turning again against the children of Benjamin, put to the sword without mercy all the towns and the cattle and everything there was, burning every town which came into their hands.