22-23. Then the Israelites went to the place of worship and mourned in the presence of the Lord until evening. They asked him, “Should we go again into battle against our brothers the Benjaminites?”The Lord answered, “Yes.”So the Israelite army was encouraged, and they placed their soldiers in the same position as they had been the day before.
24. They marched against the army of Benjamin a second time.
25. And for the second time the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and this time they killed 18,000 trained Israelite soldiers.
26. Then all the people of Israel went up to Bethel and mourned. They sat there in the Lord's presence and did not eat until evening. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burnt some sacrifices whole — all in the presence of the Lord.
27-28. God's Covenant Box was there at Bethel in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, was in charge of it. The people asked the Lord, “Should we go out to fight our brothers the Benjaminites again, or should we give up?”The Lord answered, “Fight. Tomorrow I will give you victory over them.”
29. So the Israelites put some soldiers in hiding round Gibeah.
30. Then for the third successive day they marched against the army of Benjamin and placed their soldiers in battle position facing Gibeah, as they had done before.