Judges 21
1 And the men of Israel have sworn in Mizpeh, saying, 'None of us doth give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.'
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.”
2 And the people come in to Beth-El, and sit there till the evening before God, and lift up their voice, and weep — a great weeping,
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,
3 and say, 'Why, O Jehovah, God of Israel, hath this been in Israel — to be lacking to-day, from Israel, one tribe?'
“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?”
4 And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that the people rise early, and build there an altar, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings.
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,
5 And the sons of Israel say, 'Who [is] he that hath not come up in the assembly out of all the tribes of Israel unto Jehovah?' for the great oath hath been concerning him who hath not come up unto Jehovah to Mizpeh, saying, 'He is surely put to death.'
“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.
6 And the sons of Israel repent concerning Benjamin their brother, and say, 'There hath been to-day cut off one tribe from Israel,
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.
7 what do we do for them — for those who are left — for wives, and we — we have sworn by Jehovah not to give to them of our daughters for wives?'
From where shall they receive wives? For we have all sworn in common that we will not give our daughters to them.”
8 And they say, 'Who is [that] one out of the tribes of Israel who hath not come up unto Jehovah to Mizpeh?' and lo, none hath come in unto the camp from Jabesh-Gilead — unto the assembly.
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.
9 And the people numbered themselves, and lo, there is not there a man of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead.
(Likewise, in the time when they had been at Shiloh, not one of them was found to be there.)
10 And the company send there twelve thousand men of the sons of valour, and command them, saying, 'Go — and ye have smitten the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead by the mouth of the sword, even the women and the infants.
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.”
11 And this [is] the thing which ye do; every male, and every woman knowing the lying of a male, ye devote.'
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.”
12 And they find out of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead four hundred young women, virgins, who have not known man by the lying of a male, and they bring them in unto the camp at Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan.
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.
13 And all the company send, and speak, unto the sons of Benjamin who [are] in the rock Rimmon, and proclaim to them peace;
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.
14 and Benjamin turneth back at that time, and they give to them the women whom they have kept alive of the women of Jabesh-Gilead, and they have not found for [all of] them so.
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.
15 And the people repented concerning Benjamin, for Jehovah had made a breach among the tribes of Israel.
And all of Israel was very saddened, and they did penance for destroying one tribe out of Israel.
16 And the elders of the company say, 'What do we do to the remnant for wives — for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin?'
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,
17 And they say, 'A possession of an escaped party [is] to Benjamin, and a tribe is not blotted out from Israel;
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.
18 and we — we are not able to give to them wives out of our daughters, for the sons of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed [is] he who is giving a wife to Benjamin.'
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.’”
19 And they say, 'Lo, a festival of Jehovah [is] in Shiloh, from time to time, which [is] on the north of Beth-El, at the rising of the sun, by the highway which is going up from Beth-El to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.'
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.”
20 And they command the sons of Benjamin, saying, 'Go — and ye have laid wait in the vineyards,
And they instructed the sons of Benjamin, and they said: “Go, and hide in the vineyards.
21 and have seen, and lo, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances — then ye have gone out from the vineyards, and caught for you each his wife out of the daughters of Shiloh, and gone to the land of Benjamin;
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.
22 and it hath been, when their fathers or their brethren come in to plead unto us, that we have said unto them, Favour us [by] them, for we have not taken [to] each his wife in battle, for ye — ye have not given to them at this time [that] ye are guilty.'
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.’”
23 And the sons of Benjamin do so, and take women according to their number, out of the dancers whom they have taken violently away; and they go, and turn back unto their inheritance, and build the cities, and dwell in them.
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.
24 And the sons of Israel go up and down thence at that time, each to his tribe, and to his family; and they go out thence each to his inheritance.
The sons of Israel also returned, according to their tribes and families, to their tents.
25 In those days there is no king in Israel; each doth that which is right in his own eyes.
In those days, there was no king in Israel. Instead, each one did what seemed right to himself.
