The Lord says,“ Israel, you have done evil things ever since your people sinned at Gibeah long ago. And you are still doing what is evil. War will come again to those who sinned at Gibeah.

“以色列啊，你从基比亚的日子以来时常犯罪。你们的先人曾站在那里，现今住基比亚的人以为攻击罪孽之辈的战事临不到自己。

以色列啊，你从基比亚的日子以来就时常犯罪，他们仍停留在那里。攻击罪孽之辈的战事岂不会临到基比亚吗？

以色列啊，你从基比亚的日子以来就时常犯罪，他们仍停留在那里。攻击罪孽之辈的战事岂不会临到基比亚吗？

耶和华说：“以色列人啊，从基比亚的日子以来，你们一直不断地犯罪，从未改变。难道战祸没有临到基比亚的邪恶之辈吗？

以色列啊！从基比亚的日子以来，你就犯罪，他们仍然留在那里，难道攻击恶人的战祸不能在基比亚赶上他们吗？

以色列啊，你從基比亞的日子以來時常犯罪。你們的先人曾站在那裏，現今住基比亞的人以為攻擊罪孽之輩的戰事臨不到自己。

以色列啊，你從基比亞的日子以來就時常犯罪，他們仍停留在那裏。攻擊罪孽之輩的戰事豈不會臨到基比亞嗎？

以色列啊，你從基比亞的日子以來就時常犯罪，他們仍停留在那裏。攻擊罪孽之輩的戰事豈不會臨到基比亞嗎？

耶和華說：「以色列人啊，從基比亞的日子以來，你們一直不斷地犯罪，從未改變。難道戰禍沒有臨到基比亞的邪惡之輩嗎？

以色列啊！從基比亞的日子以來，你就犯罪，他們仍然留在那裡，難道攻擊惡人的戰禍不能在基比亞趕上他們嗎？

以色列啊，從基比亞的日子以來、你就時常犯罪了。以色列人仍然在那裏停留着；難道戰禍就不能在基比亞趕上他們麼？對驕橫之輩

以色列歟、爾之干罪、較在基比亞時為尤甚、彼眾立於基比亞、以免攻不義者之戰及之、

耶和華曰、昔在其庇亞、以色列族犯罪、至於今、若出一轍、余將降災於惡人、其庇亞之民豈能逭罰、

昔在基比亞、以色列犯罪、自其時以來、爾恆犯罪、其時爾曹先人、立於基比亞、護彼惡類、免被徵伐、

“ Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel, and there you have remained. Will not war again overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?

From the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel; there they have continued. Shall not the war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah?

The Lord says,“ O Israel, ever since Gibeah, there has been only sin and more sin! You have made no progress whatsoever. Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked?

Israel, you have sinned since the days of Gibeah; they have taken their stand there. Will not war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah?

Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, Israel; There they stand! Will the battle against the sons of injustice not overtake them in Gibeah?

“ O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah; There they stood. The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity Did not overtake them.

O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood; the battle against the children of iniquity doth not overtake them in Gibeah.

Israel, you have sinned since the days of Gibeah; they have taken their stand there. Will not war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah?

O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.

O Israel, you have sinned since the time of Gibeah, and there you have remained. Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?

“ Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn’t overtake them in Gibeah.

You have sunk very deep into sin, just as your people did at Gibeah long ago. God will remember the evil things they have done. He will punish them for their sins.

The Lord says to his people,“ I have destroyed other nations. I have wiped out their forts. I have left their streets deserted. No one walks along them. Their cities are destroyed. They are deserted and empty.Here is what I thought about Jerusalem.‘ Surely you will have respect for me. Surely you will accept my warning.’ Then the city you think is safe would not be destroyed. And I would not have to punish you so much. But they still wanted to go on sinning in every way they could.

Israel gathered 400,000 men together. They were carrying swords. All of them were trained for battle. That number didn’t include the tribe of Benjamin.The Israelites went up to Bethel. There they asked God,“ Who should go up first and fight against the people of Benjamin?” The Lord answered,“ The tribe of Judah will go first.”The next morning the Israelites got up. They set up camp near Gibeah.The Israelites went out to fight against the men of Benjamin. They took up their battle positions against them at Gibeah.The men of Benjamin came out of Gibeah. They killed 22,000 Israelites on the field of battle that day.But the Israelites cheered one another on. They again took up their positions in the places where they had been the first day.The Israelites went and wept in front of the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord,“ Should we go up again to fight against the men of Benjamin? They are our fellow Israelites.” The Lord answered,“ Go up and fight against them.”The Israelites came near the men of Benjamin on the second day.The men of Benjamin came out from Gibeah to oppose them. That time they killed 18,000 more Israelites. All the men who died had been carrying swords.Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They sat there and wept in front of the Lord. They didn’t eat anything that day until evening. Then they brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings to the Lord.Again the Israelites spoke to the Lord. In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there.Phinehas was serving as priest at the ark. He was the son of Eleazar. Eleazar was the son of Aaron. The Israelites asked,“ Should we go up again to fight against the men of Benjamin? They are our fellow Israelites.” The Lord answered,“ Go. Tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”Then Israel hid some men and had them wait all around Gibeah.They went up to fight against the men of Benjamin on the third day. They took up their positions against Gibeah, just as they had done before.The men of Benjamin came out to fight against them. They were drawn away from the city. They began to wound and kill the Israelites just as they had done before. About 30 men fell in battle. They fell in the open fields and on the roads. One of the roads led to Bethel. The other led to Gibeah.The men of Benjamin said,“ We’re winning the battle over them, just as we did before.” But the men of Israel said,“ Let’s pull back. Let’s draw them away from the city to the roads.”All the men of Israel moved away from their places. They took up new battle positions at Baal Tamar. The men who had been hiding charged out. They came from west of Gibeah.Then 10,000 of Israel’s capable young men attacked Gibeah. The men of Benjamin didn’t realize they were about to be destroyed. The fighting was very heavy.The Lord helped Israel win the battle over Benjamin. On that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 men of Benjamin. All the men who died had been carrying swords.Then the men of Benjamin saw that they had lost the battle. The men of Israel had moved away from their positions in front of Benjamin. They had depended on the men they had hidden near Gibeah.Suddenly those men who had been hiding rushed into Gibeah. They spread out. Then they killed everyone in the city with their swords.The Israelites had made a plan with those who had been hiding. They had told them to send up a large cloud of smoke from the city.Then the Israelites would turn around and attack. The men of Benjamin had begun to wound and kill the men of Israel. They had struck down about 30 of them. They had said,“ We’re winning the battle over them, just as we did the first time.”But a large cloud of smoke began to go up from the city. The men of Benjamin turned around. They saw the whole city going up in smoke.Then the Israelites turned around and attacked them. The men of Benjamin were terrified. They realized they were going to be destroyed.So they ran away from the men of Israel. They ran toward the desert. But they couldn’t escape the battle. Other Israelites came out of the towns. There they struck down the men of Benjamin.Here’s how it happened. The Israelites had surrounded them. They had chased them and easily caught up with them east of Gibeah.So 18,000 men of Benjamin fell in battle. All of them were brave fighters.Some men of Benjamin turned back. They ran toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon. As they did, the Israelites struck down 5,000 of them along the roads. They kept chasing the men of Benjamin all the way to Gidom. Along the way they struck down 2,000 more.On that day 25,000 men of Benjamin fell in battle. They had been carrying swords. All of them were brave fighters.But 600 of them turned back. They ran into the desert to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed there for four months.The men of Israel went back to Benjamin. In all the towns they killed the people with their swords. They even killed the animals. So they killed everything they found. They set on fire all the towns they came to.

Hand over to us those evil men of Gibeah. We’ll put them to death. In that way we’ll get rid of those evil people.” But the people of Benjamin wouldn’t listen to the other Israelites.They came together at Gibeah from their towns. They came to fight against the other Israelites.

They were inside enjoying themselves. But some of the evil men who lived in the city surrounded the house. They pounded on the door. They shouted to the old man who owned the house. They said,“ Bring out the man who came to your house. We want to have sex with him.”The owner of the house went outside. He said to them,“ No, my friends. Don’t do such an evil thing. This man is my guest. So don’t do this terrible thing.Look, here is my virgin daughter. And here’s the Levite’s concubine. I’ll bring them out to you now. You can have them. Do to them what you want to. But don’t do such a terrible thing to this man.”The men wouldn’t listen to him. So the Levite sent his concubine out to them. They forced her to have sex with them. They raped her all night long. As the night was ending, they let her go.At sunrise she went back to the house where her master was staying. She fell down at the door. She stayed there until daylight.Later that morning her master got up. He opened the door of the house. He stepped out to continue on his way. But his concubine was lying there. She had fallen at the doorway of the house. Her hands were reaching out toward the door.He said to her,“ Get up. Let’s go.” But there wasn’t any answer. Then he put her dead body on his donkey. And he started out for home.When he reached home, he got a knife. He cut up his concubine. He cut her into 12 pieces. He sent them into all the territories of Israel.Everyone who saw it spoke to one another. They said,“ Nothing like this has ever been seen or done before. Nothing like this has happened since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So let’s hear your ideas!”

The smell of the offerings pleased the Lord. He said to himself,“ I will never put a curse on the ground again because of human beings. I will not do it even though their hearts are always directed toward evil. Their thoughts are evil from the time they are young. I will never destroy all living things again, as I have just done.

During the night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house. They were planning to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died.

So you are witnesses against yourselves. You admit that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets.So go ahead and finish the sins that those who lived before you started!

The Lord saw how bad the sins of everyone on earth had become. They only thought about evil things.