Judges 21
1 Now, the men of Israel, had sworn in Mizpah, saying, —Not a man from among us, shall give his daughter unto Benjamin, to wife.
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 then the people came to Bethel, and abode there, until the evening, before God, —and lifted up their voice, and wept bitterly,
And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping.
3 and said, Wherefore, O Yahweh, God of Israel, hath this come about in Israel, —that there should be lacking, to-day, out of Israel, one tribe?
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 And it came to pass, on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there, an altar, —and offered ascending-sacrifices, 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 And the sons of Israel said, Who was there that came not up, in the convocation, out of all the tribes of Israel, unto Yahweh? For, the great oath, had been taken, as to any who came not up unto Yahweh at Mizpah, saying—He shall 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 sons of Israel grieved for Benjamin, their brother, —and they said, There is cut off, to-day, one tribe out of 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 are we to do for them who remain, for wives, —seeing that, we ourselves, have sworn by Yahweh, not to give them of our daughters, for wives?
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 said, What one of the tribes of Israel is there, that hath not come up unto Yahweh at Mizpah? And lo! no man had come into the camp, out of Jabesh-gilead, unto the convocation:
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 When the people were numbered, lo! there was not there a man of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.
For when the people were numbered, not one man of the people of Jabesh-gilead was present.
10 So the assembly sent thither twelve thousand men, of the sons of valour, —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.
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 And, this, is the thing that ye shall do, —Every male, and every woman that hath cohabited with man, shall ye devote to destruction.
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 And they found—of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead—four hundred young women, virgins, who had not cohabited with man, —so they brought them into the camp, at Shiloh, which is 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 assembly sent, and spake unto the sons of Benjamin, who were in the cliff Rimmon, —and proclaimed to them, peace.
And all the meeting sent to the men of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, offering them peace.
14 So Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, —but they found not for them [to suffice], even so.
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 Now, the assembly, had grieved for Benjamin, —because Yahweh had made a breach, 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 So then, the elders of the assembly said, What are we to do for them who remain, for wives, —for womankind, hath been destroyed out of Benjamin?
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 And they said, There is an inheritance for the escaped of Benjamin, —and there must not be wiped out, a tribe, out of Israel.
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 Yet, we, may not give them wives, of our own daughters, For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed, be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
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 Then said they—Lo! the festival of Yahweh in Shiloh, from year to year, Which [Shiloh] is on the north of Bethel, towards sunrise, by the highway that goeth up from Bethel, towards Shechem, and on the 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 And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, —Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
And they said to the men of Benjamin, Go into the vine-gardens, waiting there secretly,
21 and look, and lo! if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then shall ye come forth out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife, of the daughters of Shiloh, —and go your way 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 And it shall be, when their fathers, or their brethren, come in to complain to us, that we will say unto them—As a favour to us, grant them, because we took not for each man his wife in the battle, —for, ye yourselves, gave them not unto them, so as, now, to be guilty.
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 And the sons of Benjamin did so, and carried off wives, according to their number, of them who were dancing, whom they seized, —and they went their way, and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt therein.
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 the sons of Israel at that time went their several ways from thence, every man to his own tribe, and to his own family, —yea they went forth from thence, every man 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, —every man did, that which was right in his own eyes.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what seemed right to him.
