Israel Prepares for a War

Then all the people of Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south and from the land of Gilead in the east, assembled before the Lord at Mizpah.

The leaders of all the tribes of Israel attended the assembly of God's people. Of those in attendance, 400,000 were soldiers. And the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.

The Israelites asked,

"Tell us why this crime happened?" And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I and my concubine went to Gibeah, to spend the night in the land of Benjamin.

Then the men of Gibeah came to get me, and that night they surrounded the house. They wanted to kill me but instead they raped my girlfriend and she died.

Then I took his carcass, cut it in pieces, and sent it into all the territory of Israel. These people have done us bad and ugly things.

So what can we do if we are all Israelites? And all the people answered together, and said, None of us shall return, whether he be in a tent or in a house:

This is what we will do: let us choose men to attack Gibeah.

One tenth part of the people of Israel shall provide food for the army that comes to Gibeah because of the evil they have done to Israel. "

So all the men of Israel joined together to attack the city of Gibeah. And the children of Israel sent messengers throughout all the country of the children of Benjamin, saying, What a great evil that ye have committed!

Now hand over the men of Gibeah to us, that we may put them to death, and put an end to this evil in Israel. "

But the people of Benjamin did not pay attention to it.

But all the cities of Benjamin gathered themselves together at Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.

That day they gathered 26,000 soldiers from their cities. In addition to this, the citizens of Gibeah gathered 700 chosen men of all kinds. Each of them can swing a rock and hit even a grain of hair and never miss. And the children of Israel, beside the tribe of Benjamin, were numbered 400,000.