Judges 20:18-28

¹⁸ And they got up and went up to Beth-el to get directions from God, and the children of Israel said, Who is to be the first to go up to the fight against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah is to go up first. ¹⁹ So the children of Israel got up in the morning and put themselves in position against Gibeah. ²⁰ And the men of Israel went out to war against Benjamin (and the men of Israel put their forces in fighting order against them at Gibeah). ²¹ Then the children of Benjamin came out from Gibeah, cutting down twenty-two thousand of the Israelites that day. ²² But the people, the men of Israel, taking heart again, put their forces in order and took up the same position as on the first day. ²³ Now the children of Israel went up, weeping before the Lord till evening, requesting the Lord and saying, Am I to go forward again to the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him. ²⁴ So the children of Israel went forward against the children of Benjamin the second day. ²⁵ And the second day Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah, cutting down eighteen thousand men of the children of Israel, all swordsmen.

²⁶ Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Beth-el, weeping and waiting there before the Lord, going without food all day till evening, and offering burned offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord. ²⁷ And the children of Israel made request to the Lord, (for the ark of the agreement of the Lord was there in those days, ²⁸ And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was in his place before it,) and said, Am I still to go on with the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother, or am I to give it up? And the Lord said, Go on; for tomorrow I will give him into your hands.