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.
30 They went to fight against the Benjaminites at Gibeah on the third day. They got into position for battle, as they had done before.
31 Then the Benjaminites came out of the city to fight them. The Israelites backed up and led the Benjaminites away from the city. The Benjaminites began to kill some of the Israelites as they had done before. About 30 men from Israel were killed. Some of them were killed in the fields and some on the roads. One road led to Bethel. Another road led to Gibeah.
32 The Benjaminites said, “We are winning as before!”But the Israelites said, “Let’s run. Let’s trick them into going farther away from their city and onto the roads.”