Judges 21
1 The sons of Israel had also taken an oath at Mizpah, and they said, “None of us shall give his daughters as a wife to the sons of Benjamin.”
Now the men of Israel had made a promise at Mizpah, “None of us will give his daughter to marry a Benjamite.”
2 And they all went to the house of God at Shiloh. And sitting in his sight until evening, they lifted up their voice, and they began to weep, with a great wailing, saying,
Then the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until the evening, and with loud voices they wept bitterly.
3 “Why, O Lord, God of Israel, has this evil happened among your people, so that this day one tribe would be taken away from us?”
They called out, “Why, Yahweh, God of Israel, has this happened to Israel, that one of our tribes should be missing today?”
4 Then, rising at first light on the next day, they built an altar. And they offered holocausts and victims of peace offerings there, and they said,
The next day the people got up early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 “Who, out of all the tribes of Israel, did not ascend with the army of the Lord?” For they had bound themselves with a great oath, when they were at Mizpah, that whoever was not present would be slain.
The people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to Yahweh?” For they had made an important promise concerning anyone who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah. They said, “He would certainly be put to death.”
6 And the sons of Israel, having been led to repentance over their brother Benjamin, began to say: “One tribe has been taken away from Israel.
The people of Israel had compassion for their brother Benjamin. They said, “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.
7 From where shall they receive wives? For we have all sworn in common that we will not give our daughters to them.”
Who will provide wives for those who are left, since we have made a promise to Yahweh that we will not let any of them marry our daughters?”
8 For this reason, they said, “Who is there, out of all the tribes of Israel, that did not ascend to the Lord at Mizpah?” And behold, the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead were found not to have been among that army.
They said, “Which of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?” It was found that no one had come to the assembly from Jabesh Gilead.
9 (Likewise, in the time when they had been at Shiloh, not one of them was found to be there.)
For when the people were set out in an orderly manner, behold, none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead were there.
10 And so they sent ten thousand very robust men, and they instructed them, saying, “Go and strike down the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead with the edge of the sword, including their wives and little ones.”
The assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with instructions to go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children.
11 And this shall be what you ought to do: “Every one of the male gender, as well as all the women who have known men, shall be put to death. But the virgins you shall reserve.”
“Do this: You must kill every male and every woman who has slept with a man.”
12 And four hundred virgins, who had not known the bed of a man, were found from Jabesh-Gilead. And they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, in the land of Canaan.
The men found among those living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh, in Canaan.
13 And they sent messengers to the sons of Benjamin, who were at the rock of Rimmon, and they instructed them, so that they would receive them in peace.
The entire assembly sent a message and told the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon that they were offering them peace.
14 And the sons of Benjamin went, at that time, and wives were given to them from the daughters of Jabesh-Gilead. But others were not found, whom they might give in a similar manner.
The Benjamites returned at that time and they were given the women of Jabesh Gilead, but there were not enough women for all of them.
15 And all of Israel was very saddened, and they did penance for destroying one tribe out of Israel.
The people were sorry for what happened to Benjamin, because Yahweh made a division between the tribes of Israel.
16 And those greater by birth said: “What shall we do with the remainder, those who have not received wives? For all the females of Benjamin have been cut down,
Then the leaders of the assembly said, “How will we arrange wives for the Benjamites who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been killed?”
17 and we must take great care, and make provision with a very great diligence, so that one tribe may not be wiped away from Israel.
They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe is not destroyed from Israel.
18 As for our own daughters, we are not able to give them, being bound by an oath and a curse, when we said, ‘Accursed is he who will give any of his daughters to Benjamin as a wife.’”
We cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the people of Israel had made a promise, 'Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.'”
19 And they took counsel, and they said, “Behold, there is a yearly solemnity of the Lord at Shiloh, which is situated to the north of the city of Bethel, and on the eastern side of the way that one takes from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of the town of Lebonah.”
So they said, “You know there is a feast for Yahweh every year at Shiloh (which is north of Bethel, east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah).”
20 And they instructed the sons of Benjamin, and they said: “Go, and hide in the vineyards.
They instructed the men of Benjamin, saying, “Go and hide in secret and wait in the vineyards.
21 And when you will have seen daughters of Shiloh being led out to dance, according to custom, go forth suddenly from the vineyards, and let each one seize one wife from among them, and travel into the land of Benjamin.
Watch for the time when the girls from Shiloh come out to dance, then rush out of the vineyards and each one of you should grab a wife from the girls of Shiloh, then go back to the land of Benjamin.
22 And when their fathers and brothers arrive, and they begin to complain against you and to argue, we will say to them: ‘Take pity on them. For they have not seized them by right of war or conquest. Instead, begging to receive them, you did not give them, and so the sin was on your part.’”
When their fathers or their brothers come to protest to us, we will say to them, 'Show us favor! Let them remain because we did not get wives for each man during the war. You are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.'”
23 And so the sons of Benjamin did just as they had been ordered. And according to their number, they seized for themselves one wife each, out of those who were led out dancing. And they went into their own possession, and they built up their cities, and they lived in them.
The people of Benjamin did so. They took the number of wives that they needed from the girls who were dancing and they carried them off to be their wives. They went and returned to the place of their inheritance. They rebuilt the towns and lived in them.
24 The sons of Israel also returned, according to their tribes and families, to their tents.
Then the people of Israel left that place and went home, each one to his own tribe and clan, and each one to his own inheritance.
25 In those days, there was no king in Israel. Instead, each one did what seemed right to himself.
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
