8. And all the people rose to their feet in unison and declared, “None of us will return home! No, not even one of us!
9. Instead, this is what we will do to Gibeah; we will draw lots to decide who will attack it.
10. One-tenth of the men from each tribe will be chosen to supply the warriors with food, and the rest of us will take revenge on Gibeah of Benjamin for this shameful thing they have done in Israel.”
11. So all the Israelites were completely united, and they gathered together to attack the town.
12. The Israelites sent messengers to the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What a terrible thing has been done among you!
13. Give up those evil men, those troublemakers from Gibeah, so we can execute them and purge Israel of this evil.”But the people of Benjamin would not listen.
14. Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah to fight the Israelites.
15. In all, 26,000 of their warriors armed with swords arrived in Gibeah to join the 700 elite troops who lived there.
16. Among Benjamin’s elite troops, 700 were left-handed, and each of them could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth without missing.
17. Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin’s warriors.
18. Before the battle the Israelites went to Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should go first to attack the people of Benjamin?”The lord answered, “Judah is to go first.”
19. So the Israelites left early the next morning and camped near Gibeah.
20. Then they advanced toward Gibeah to attack the men of Benjamin.
21. But Benjamin’s warriors, who were defending the town, came out and killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.
22. But the Israelites encouraged each other and took their positions again at the same place they had fought the previous day.