22-23 The Israelites went before the Lord. They cried until evening. They asked the Lord, “Shall we go to fight our relatives, the Benjaminites, again?”The Lord answered, “Go up and fight them.” The men of Israel encouraged each other. So they took the same battle positions they had taken the first day.
24 The Israelites brought their battle lines against the Benjaminites the second day.
25 The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah to attack the Israelites. This time, the Benjaminites killed 18,000 Israelites. All of these Israelites had been trained with swords.
26 Then the Israelites went up to Bethel. There they sat down and cried to the Lord. They went without food all day until evening. They also brought burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord.
27 The Israelites asked the Lord a question. (In those days the Ark of the Covenant with God was there at Bethel.
28 A priest named Phinehas served before the Ark of the Covenant. He was the son of Eleazar, who was the son of Aaron.) The people of Israel asked, “Shall we again go to fight against our relatives the Benjaminites? Or shall we stop fighting?”The Lord answered, “Go, because tomorrow I will help you defeat them.”
29 Then the Israelites hid some men all around Gibeah.