Judges 20:23-27

20:23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we ¹  again march out to fight ²  the Benjaminites, our brothers?” ³  The Lord said, “Attack them!” ⁴  20:24 So the Israelites marched toward ⁵  the Benjaminites the next day. 20:25 The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers. ⁶ 

20:26 So all the Israelites, the whole army, ⁷  went up to ⁸  Bethel. ⁹  They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything ¹⁰  that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace ¹¹  to the Lord. 20:27 The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days;

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¹ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

² tn Heb “approach for battle.”

³ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

⁴ tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).

⁵ tn Heb “drew near to.”

⁶ tn Heb “And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day, and they struck down among the sons of Israel eighteen thousand men to the ground, all of these were wielding the sword.”

⁷ tn Heb “and all the people.”

⁸ tn Heb “went up and came [to].”

⁹ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “fasted.”

¹¹ tn Or “peace offerings.”