[20:36] The main body of the Israelite army had retreated from the Benjaminites because they were relying on the men that they had put in hiding around Gibeah.
[20:37] These men ran quickly toward Gibeah; they spread out in the city and killed everyone there.
[20:38] The main Israelite army and the men in hiding had arranged a signal. When they saw a big cloud of smoke going up from the town,
[20:39] the Israelites out on the battlefield were to turn around. By this time the Benjaminites had already killed the thirty Israelites. They told themselves, “Yes, we've beaten them just as before.”
[20:40] Then the signal appeared; a cloud of smoke began to go up from the town. The Benjaminites looked behind them and were amazed to see the whole city going up in flames.
[20:41] Then the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites were thrown into panic because they realized that they were about to be destroyed.
[20:42] They retreated from the Israelites and ran toward the open country, but they could not escape. They were caught between the main army and the men who were now coming out of the city, and they were destroyed.
[20:43] The Israelites had the enemy trapped, and without stopping they pursued them as far as a point east of Gibeah, killing them as they went.
[20:44] Eighteen thousand of the best Benjaminite soldiers were killed.
[20:45] The others turned and ran toward the open country to Rimmon Rock. Five thousand of them were killed on the roads. The Israelites continued to pursue the rest to Gidom, killing two thousand.
[20:46] In all, twenty-five thousand Benjaminites were killed that day—all of them brave soldiers.
[20:47] But six hundred men were able to escape to the open country to Rimmon Rock, and they stayed there four months.
[20:48] The Israelites turned back against the rest of the Benjaminites and killed them all—men, women, and children, and animals as well. They burned every town in the area.