1. And so all the sons of Israel went out like one man, from Dan to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, and they gathered together, before the Lord, at Mizpah.
2. And all the chiefs of the people, and every tribe of Israel, convened as an assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers for battle.
3. (But it was not hidden from the sons of Benjamin that the sons of Israel had ascended to Mizpah.) And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was killed, being questioned as to how so great a crime had been perpetrated,
4. responded: "I went to Gibeah of Benjamin, with my wife, and I diverted to that place.
5. And behold, the men of that city, at night, surrounded the house in which I was staying, intending to kill me. And they abused my wife with such an incredible fury of lust that in the end she died.
6. And taking her up, I cut her into pieces, and I sent the parts into all the borders of your possession. For never before was such a nefarious crime, and so great a sin, committed in Israel.
7. You are all present here, O sons of Israel. Discern what you ought to do."
8. And all the people, standing, responded as if with the word of one man: "We shall not return to our own tents, nor shall anyone enter into his own house.