1. All the people of Israel from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east, answered the call. They gathered in one body in the Lord's presence at Mizpah.
2. The leaders of all the tribes of Israel were present at this gathering of God's people, and there were 400,000 foot soldiers.
3. Meanwhile the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah.The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how was this crime committed?”
4. The Levite whose concubine had been murdered answered, “My concubine and I went to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.
5. The men of Gibeah came to attack me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me; instead they raped my concubine, and she died.
15-16. They called out 26,000 soldiers from their cities that day. Besides these, the citizens of Gibeah gathered 700 specially chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a strand of hair and never miss.
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.
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.”