36 So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The army of Israel had moved back because they were depending on the surprise attack. They had men hiding near Gibeah.
37 The men who were hiding rushed into the city of Gibeah. They spread out and killed everyone in the city with their swords.
38 Now the men of Israel had made a plan with the men who were hiding. The men who were hiding were supposed to send a special signal. They were supposed to make a big cloud of smoke.
39-41 The army of Benjamin had killed about 30 Israelite soldiers. So the men of Benjamin were saying, “We are winning, as before.” But then a big cloud of smoke began to rise from the city. The men of Benjamin turned around and saw the smoke. The whole city was on fire. Then the army of Israel stopped running away. They turned around and began to fight. The men of Benjamin were afraid because they knew that a terrible thing had happened to them.
42 So the army of Benjamin ran away from the army of Israel. They ran toward the desert. But they could not escape the fighting. And the men of Israel came out of the cities and killed them.
43 The men of Israel surrounded the men of Benjamin and began chasing them. They did not let them rest. They defeated them in the area east of Gibeah.
44 So 18,000 brave and strong fighters from the army of Benjamin were killed.