Judges 21
1 The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, “None of us will allow our daughters to marry a Benjamite.”
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
2 The Israelites went to Bethel and sat there before God until the evening, crying loudly in distress.
And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore.
3 “Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened to Israel?” they asked. “Today one of our tribes is missing from Israel.”
And they said, O LORD, the God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?
4 The next day they got up early, built an altar, and brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 “Which of all the tribes of Israel didn't attend the assembly we held before the Lord?” they asked. For they had sworn a sacred oath that anyone who did not come before the Lord at Mizpah would without exception be executed.
And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up in the assembly unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up unto the LORD to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
6 The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin, saying, “Today one tribe has been hacked off from Israel!
And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
7 What shall we do about wives for those who are left, since we have sworn an oath before the Lord that we will not allow any of our daughters to marry them?”
How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
8 Then they asked, “Which one of all the tribes of Israel didn't attend the assembly we held before the Lord at Mizpah?” They found out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly,
And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up unto the LORD to Mizpah? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.
9 for once they had done a head count, there was nobody there from Jabesh-gilead.
For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their best warriors there. They gave them orders, saying, “Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with your swords, even the women and children.
And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.
11 This is what you have to do: Destroy every male and every woman who has had sex with a man.”
And this is the thing that ye shall do; ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
12 They managed to find among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred virgins who had not had sex with a man. They took them to the camp in Shiloh, in the land of Canaan.
And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had not known man by lying with him: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole assembly sent a message to the Benjamites at Pomegranate Rock to tell them, “Peace!”
And the whole congregation sent and spake to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace unto them.
14 So the men of Benjamin went back home, and gave to them the four hundred women from Jabesh-gilead who had been spared as wives. However, there wasn't enough for all of them.
And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
15 The people felt sorry for the Benjamites because the Lord had made this empty hole among the Israelite tribes.
And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16 The elders of the assembly asked, “What shall we do to supply the remaining wives because all the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”
Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?
17 They added, “There have to be heirs for the Benjamite survivors—an Israelite tribe of Israel can't be wiped out.
And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.
18 But we can't let them have our daughters as wives, since we as the people of Israel swore a sacred oath, saying, ‘Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite is cursed!’”
Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
19 Then they said, “Look! Every year there's the Lord's festival in Shiloh. It's held north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, south of Lebonah.”
And they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
20 So they ordered the Benjamites, “Go and hide in the vineyards.
And they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 Keep a lookout, and when you see the young women from Shiloh come out to perform their dances, run out from the vineyards, and each of you abduct a wife for yourself and go back home to the land of Benjamin.
and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22 If their fathers or brothers come complaining to us, we'll tell them, ‘Please do us a favor, because we couldn't find enough wives for them in the war. And it's not as if you're guilty of breaking the oath since you didn't give them in marriage.”
And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to complain unto us, that we will say unto them, Grant them graciously unto us: because we took not for each man [of them] his wife in battle: neither did ye give them unto them; else would ye now be guilty.
23 The Benjaminites did as they were ordered. Each man grabbed one of the women dancers up to the total needed and carried her off to be his wife. Then they went back to their own land, where they rebuilt their towns and lived in them.
And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.
24 Then the Israelites left and went home to their tribes and families, each one going to the land they owned.
And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.
25 At that time Israel didn't have a king—everyone did what they themselves thought was the right thing to do.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
