Israel’s War with the Tribe of Benjamin

1 Then ^yall the people of Israel came out, ^zfrom Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at ^aMizpah. 2 And the ^bchiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot ^cthat drew the sword. 3 (Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this evil happen?” 4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, ^d“I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5 ^eAnd the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead. 6 ^fSo I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and ^goutrage in Israel. 7 Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, ^hgive your advice and counsel here.”

8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house. 9 But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot, 10 and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

12 ⁱAnd the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you? 13 Now therefore give up the men, ^jthe worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death ^kand purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel. 14 Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel. 15 And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day ^l26,000 men ^mwho drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men. 16 Among all these were 700 chosen men who were ⁿleft-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered ^m400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.

18 The people of Israel arose and went up to ^oBethel and inquired of God, ^p“Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, ^p“Judah shall go up first.”

19 Then the people of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah. 21 ^qThe people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites. 22 But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day. 23 ^rAnd the people of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until the evening. And they inquired of the Lord, “Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against them.”

24 So the people of Israel came near against the people of Benjamin the second day. 25 And Benjamin ^swent against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who ^tdrew the sword. 26 Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to ^uBethel and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 27 And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord ^v(for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and ^wPhinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ^xministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”

29 ^ySo Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. 30 And the people of Israel went up against the people of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. 31 And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, ^zone of which goes up to ^aBethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the people of Benjamin said, ^b“They are routed before us, as at the first.” But the people of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place from Maareh-geba.¹ 34 And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, ^cbut the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them. 35 And the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the people of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day. All these were men who ^ddrew the sword. 36 So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated.

The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37 ^eThen the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush moved out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city 39 the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, ^f“Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, ^gthe whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven. 41 Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, ^hfor they saw that disaster was close upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in ⁱthe direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities were destroying them in their midst. 43 Surrounding the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah² as far as opposite Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. 45 And they turned ⁱand fled toward the wilderness to the rock of ^jRimmon. Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways. And they were pursued hard to Gidom, and 2,000 men of them were struck down. 46 So all who fell that day of Benjamin were 25,000 men who drew the sword, all of them men of valor. 47 But 600 men turned and ⁱfled toward the wilderness to the rock of ^jRimmon and remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire.

Greeting

1 Paul, an ^aapostle—^bnot from men nor through man, but ^cthrough Jesus Christ and God the Father, ^dwho raised him from the dead— 2 and all ^ethe brothers¹ who are with me,

To ^fthe churches of Galatia:

3 ^gGrace to you and peace ^hfrom God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 ⁱwho gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present ^jevil age, according to the will of ^kour God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

6 I am astonished that you are ^lso quickly deserting ^mhim who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to ⁿa different gospel— 7 ^onot that there is another one, but ^pthere are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or ^qan angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ^rlet him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, ^rlet him be accursed.

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying ^sto please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a ^tservant² of Christ.

Paul Called by God

11 For ^uI would have you know, brothers, that ^vthe gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.³ 12 ^wFor I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it ^xthrough a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of ^ymy former life in Judaism, how ^zI persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely ^azealous was I for ^bthe traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he ^cwho had set me apart ^dbefore I was born,⁴ and who ^ecalled me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to⁵ me, in order ^fthat I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;⁶ 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

18 Then ^gafter three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James ^hthe Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, ⁱbefore God, I do not lie!) 21 ^jThen I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to ^kthe churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those ^lwho seemed influential) the gospel that ^mI proclaim among the Gentiles, ⁿin order to make sure I was not running or had not ^orun in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, ^pwas not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 ^qYet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who ^rslipped in to spy out ^sour freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, ^tso that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that ^uthe truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those ^vwho seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; ^wGod shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential ^xadded nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been ^yentrusted with ^zthe gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, ^vwho seemed to be ^apillars, perceived the ^bgrace that was given to me, they ^cgave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, ^dthe very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter

11 But ^ewhen Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him ^fto his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, ^ghe was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing ^hthe circumcision party.⁷ 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their ⁱconduct was not in step with ^jthe truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas ^kbefore them all, “If you, though a Jew, ^llive like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not ^mGentile sinners; 16 yet we know that ⁿa person is not justified⁸ by works of the law ^obut through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, ^pbecause by works of the law no one will be justified.

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found ^qto be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I ^rdied to the law, so that I might ^slive to God. 20 I have been ^tcrucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives ^uin me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, ^vwho loved me and ^wgave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for ^xif righteousness⁹ were through the law, ^ythen Christ died for no purpose.

By Faith, or by Works of the Law?

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? ^zIt was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly ^aportrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: ^bDid you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by ^chearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? ^dHaving begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by¹⁰ the flesh? 4 ^eDid you suffer¹¹ so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and ^fworks miracles among you do so ^gby works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as ^hAbraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

7 Know then that it is ⁱthose of faith who are ^jthe sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that ^kGod would justify¹² the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ^l“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

10 For all who rely on works of the law are ^munder a curse; for it is written, ⁿ“Cursed be everyone who does not ^oabide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that ^pno one is justified before God by the law, for ^q“The righteous shall live by faith.”¹³ 12 But the law is not of faith, rather ^r“The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ ^sredeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ^t“Cursed is everyone who is hanged ^uon a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might ^vcome to the Gentiles, so that ^wwe might receive ^xthe promised Spirit¹⁴ through faith.

The Law and the Promise

15 ^yTo give a human example, brothers:^{15 z}even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now ^athe promises were made ^bto Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, ^c“And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came ^d430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as ^eto make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but ^fGod gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? ^gIt was added because of transgressions, ^huntil the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ⁱput in place through angels ^jby an intermediary. 20 Now ^kan intermediary implies more than one, but ^lGod is one.

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For ^mif a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture ⁿimprisoned everything under sin, so that ^othe promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given ^pto those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, ^qimprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, ^rthe law was our ^sguardian until Christ came, ^tin order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus ^uyou are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as ^vwere baptized ^winto Christ have ^xput on Christ. 28 ^yThere is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave¹⁶ nor free, ^zthere is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And ^aif you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, ^bheirs according to promise.