Judges 21
1 Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
Now the men of Israel had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, Not one of us will give his daughter as a wife to Benjamin.
2 So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly.
And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping.
3 “Why, O LORD God of Israel,” they cried out, “has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!”
And they said, O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this fate come on Israel, that today one tribe has been cut off from Israel?
4 The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Then on the day after, the people got up early and made an altar there, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings.
5 The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah would surely be put to death.
And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel, who did not come up to the Lord at the meeting of all Israel? For they had taken a great oath that whoever did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord was to be put to death.
6 And the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites, and said, “Today a tribe is cut off from Israel.
And the children of Israel were moved with pity for Benjamin their brother, saying, Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.
7 What should we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?”
What are we to do about wives for those who are still living? For we have taken an oath by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters for wives.
8 So they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?” And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.
And they said, Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord? And it was seen that no one had come from Jabesh-gilead to the meeting.
9 For when the people were counted, none of the residents of Jabesh-gilead were there.
For when the people were numbered, not one man of the people of Jabesh-gilead was present.
10 So the congregation sent 12,000 of their most valiant men and commanded them: “Go and put to the sword those living in Jabesh-gilead, including women and children.
So they (the meeting) sent twelve thousand of the best fighting-men, and gave them orders, saying, Go and put the people of Jabesh-gilead to the sword without mercy, with their women and their little ones.
11 This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.”
And this is what you are to do: every male, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man, you are to put to the curse, but you are to keep safe the virgins. And they did so.
12 So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young women who had not had relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
Now there were among the people of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never had sex relations with a man; these they took to their tents in Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon.
And all the meeting sent to the men of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, offering them peace.
14 And at that time the Benjamites returned and were given the women who were spared from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough women for all of them.
Then Benjamin came back; and they gave them the women whom they had kept from death among the women of Jabesh-gilead: but still there were not enough for them.
15 The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel.
And the people were moved with pity for Benjamin, because the Lord had let his wrath loose on the tribes of Israel.
16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”
Then the responsible men of the meeting said, What are we to do about wives for the rest of them, seeing that the women of Benjamin are dead?
17 They added, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.
And they said, How is the rest of Benjamin to be given offspring so that one tribe of Israel may not be put out of existence,
18 But we cannot give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite.”
Seeing that we may not give them our daughters as wives? For the children of Israel had taken an oath, saying, Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.
19 “But look,” they said, “there is a yearly feast to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
And they said, See, every year there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh, which is to the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway which goes up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
20 So they commanded the Benjamites: “Go, hide in the vineyards
And they said to the men of Benjamin, Go into the vine-gardens, waiting there secretly,
21 and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
And watching; and if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then come from the vine-gardens and take a wife for every one of you from among the daughters of Shiloh, and go back to the land of Benjamin.
22 When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favor by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.’”
And when their fathers or their brothers come and make trouble, you are to say to them, Give them to us as an act of grace; for we did not take them as wives for ourselves in war; and if you yourselves had given them to us you would have been responsible for the broken oath.
23 The Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled in them.
So the men of Benjamin did this, and got wives for themselves for every one of their number, taking them away by force from the dance; then they went back to their heritage, building up their towns and living in them.
24 And at that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and clan, each to his own inheritance.
Then the children of Israel went away from there, every man to his tribe and his family, every man went back to his heritage.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what seemed right to him.
