Judges 21
1 When the Israeli men gathered at Mizpah [before the battle started], they vowed, “None of us will ever allow one of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin!”
Now the children of Israel swore in Massephath, saying, No man of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.
2 But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
And the people came to Baethel, and sat there until evening before God: and they lifted up their voice and wept with a great weeping;
3 They kept saying, “Yahweh, God of us Israeli people, [it is as though] one of the tribes of us Israelis does not exist any more! (Why has this happened to us?/It is terrible that this has happened to us!)” [RHQ]
and said, Therefore, O Lord God of Israel, has this come to pass, that today one tribe should be counted [as missing] from Israel?
4 Early the next morning the people built an altar. Then they completely burned some sacrifices [on the altar], and also offered other sacrifices to maintain fellowship with God.
And it came to pass on the morrow that the people rose up early, and built there an altar, and offered up whole burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 Then, because they had vowed that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah [to help fight the men of the tribe of Benjamin] would be killed, they asked among themselves, “Were there any of the tribes of Israel who did not come to Mizpah to meet with us in the presence of Yahweh?”
And the children of Israel said, Who of all the tribes of Israel, went not up in the congregation to the Lord? for there was a great oath concerning those who went not up to the Lord to Massephath, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
6 The Israelis felt sorry for their fellow Israelis from the tribe of Benjamin. They said, “Today one of our Israeli tribes (has disappeared/no longer exists).
And the children of Israel relented toward Benjamin their brother, and said, To-day one tribe is cut off from Israel.
7 Yahweh heard us solemnly declare that we would not allow any of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin. What can we do to make certain that the men of the tribe of Benjamin who were not killed will have wives?”
What shall we do for wives for the rest that remain? whereas we have sworn by the Lord, not to give them of our daughters for wives.
8 Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
And they said, What one [man is there] of the tribes of Israel, who went not up to the Lord to Massephath? and, behold, no man came to the camp from Jabis Galaad to the assembly.
9 [They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
And the people were numbered, and there was not there a man from the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad.
10 So all the Israelis decided to send 12,000 very good soldiers to Jabesh-Gilead to kill the people there with their swords, even to kill the married women and children.
And the congregation sent there twelve thousand men of the strongest, and they charged them, saying, Go you and strike the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad with the edge of the sword.
11 [They told this to those men]: “This is what you must do: You must kill every man in Jabesh-Gilead. You must also kill every married woman. [But do not kill the unmarried women].”
And this shall you do: every male and every woman that has known the lying with man you shall devote [to destruction], but the virgins you shall save alive: and they did so.
12 So those soldiers [went to Jabesh-Gilead and killed all the men, married women, and children. But they] found 400 unmarried young women there. So they brought them to their camp at Shiloh, in Canaan, [across the river from the Gilead area that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin].
And they found among the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to Selom in the land of Chanaan.
13 Then all the Israelis [who had gathered] sent a message to the 600 men who were at Rimmon Rock. They said that they would like to make peace with them.
And all the congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin in the rock Remmon, and invited them to [make] peace.
14 So the men came back from Rimmon Rock. The Israelis gave to them the women from Jabesh-Gilead whom they had not killed. But there were [only 400 women. But there were] not enough women [for those 600 men].
And Benjamin returned to the children of Israel at that time, and the children of Israel gave them the women whom they [had] save alive of the daughters of Jabis Galaad; and they were content.
15 The Israelis [still] felt sorry for the men of the tribe of Benjamin, because Yahweh had (decimated/almost wiped out) one of the Israeli tribes.
And the people relented for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16 The Israeli leaders said, “We have killed all the married women of the tribe of Benjamin. Where can we get women to be wives of the men who are still alive?
And the elders of the congregation said, What shall we do for wives for them that remain? for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin.
17 These men must have wives to give birth to children, in order that their families will continue. If that does not happen, all the people of one of the tribes of Israel will die.
And they said, [There must be] an inheritance of them that are escaped of Benjamin; and [so] a tribe shall not be destroyed out of Israel.
18 But we cannot allow our daughters to marry these men, because we vowed that Yahweh will curse anyone who gives one of his daughters to become a wife of any man of the tribe of Benjamin.”
For we shall not be able to give them wives of our daughters, because we swore among the children of Israel, saying, Cursed [is] he that gives a wife to Benjamin.
19 Then [one of] them (had an idea/thought of something that they could do). He said, “Every year there is a festival to honor Yahweh at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel and east of the road that extends from Bethel to Shechem, and it is south of Lebonah [city].”
And they said, Behold! now [there is] a feast of the Lord from year to year in Selom, which is on the north of Baethel, eastward on the way that goes up from Baethel to Sychem, and from the south of Lebona.
20 So the Israeli leaders told the men of the tribe of Benjamin, “[When it is the time for that festival], go to Shiloh and hide in the vineyards.
And they charged the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 Keep watching for the young women to come out of the city to dance. [When they come out], all of you should run out of the vineyards. Each of you can seize one of the young women of Shiloh. Then you can all return to your homes [with those women].
and you shall see; and behold! if there come out the daughters of the inhabitants of Selom to dance in dances, then shall you go out of the vineyards and seize for yourselves every man a wife of the daughters of Selom, and go you into the land of Benjamin.
22 If their fathers or brothers come to us and complain [about what you have done], we will say to them, ‘Be kind to the men of the tribe of Benjamin. When we fought them, we did not leave any women alive to become their wives, and you did not give those young women to the men from the tribe of Benjamin. [They stole them]. So you will not be guilty, [even though you said that you would not allow any of your daughters to marry one of them].’”
And it shall come to pass, when their fathers or their brethren come to dispute with us, that we will say to them, Grant them freely to us, for we have not taken every man his wife in the battle: because you did not give to them according to the occasion, you transgressed.
23 So that is what the men of the tribe of Benjamin did. [They went to Shiloh at the time of the festival]. And when the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them and took her away and married her. Then they took their wives back to the land that God had given to them. They rebuilt their cities [that had been burned down], and they lived there.
And the children of Benjamin did so; and they took wives according to their number from the dancers whom they seized: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and lived in them.
24 The other Israelis went to their homes in the areas where their tribes and clans lived, the areas that God had allotted to them.
And the children of Israel went thence at that time every man to his tribe and his kindred; and they went thence every man to his inheritance.
25 At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own sight.
