Jg 21:1Now the men of Israel swore in Mizpah, saying, None of us shall give his daughter to a Benjaminite as a wife.
Jg 21:2And the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and they lifted up their voice and wept greatly.
Jg 21:3And they said, Why, O Jehovah God of Israel, has this happened in Israel, that there is one tribe missing in Israel today?
Jg 21:4And in the morning the people rose early and built an altar there, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Jg 21:5And the children of Israel said, Who did not come up into the congregation to Jehovah from all the tribes of Israel? For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who did not come up to Jehovah at Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
Jg 21:6And the children of Israel were grieved concerning Benjamin their brother, and they said, Today a tribe has been cut down from Israel.
Jg 21:7What shall we do about wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by Jehovah not to give them any of our daughters as wives?
Jg 21:8And they said, Is there anyone from the tribes of Israel who did not come to Jehovah at Mizpah? Now there was no one from Jabesh-gilead who had come to the congregation at the camp.
Jg 21:9For when the people were numbered, there was no one from among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
Jg 21:10So the assembly sent twelve thousand of the valiant there and commanded them, saying, Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, including women and children.
Jg 21:11And this is the thing that you shall do: Every male and every woman who has lain with a male you shall utterly destroy.
Jg 21:12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not known men by lying with a male; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which was in the land of Canaan.
Jg 21:13And the whole assembly sent men and spoke to the children of Benjamin, who were at the rock of Rimmon; and they proclaimed peace to them.
Jg 21:14And the Benjaminites returned at that time. And they gave them the women who had been kept alive from among the women of Jabesh-gilead; but there were not enough for them.
Jg 21:15And the people were grieved concerning Benjamin, for Jehovah had made a breach among the tribes of Israel.
Jg 21:16So the elders of the assembly said, What shall we do about wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed from Benjamin?
Jg 21:17And they said, There should be some possession for those of Benjamin who have escaped, that no tribe would be blotted out of Israel.
Jg 21:18But we cannot give them any of our daughters as wives. For the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.
Jg 21:19And they said, Behold, there is a feast of Jehovah each year in Shiloh (which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah).
Jg 21:20And they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
Jg 21:21And immediately when you see the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the dances, come out of the vineyards, and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh; then go into the land of Benjamin.
Jg 21:22And when their fathers or brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, Give them to us as a gift, for we did not take a wife in battle for each man, nor did you give them to them and thereby incur guilt for yourselves now.
Jg 21:23And the children of Benjamin did so and took wives, whom they carried off, according to their number from those who danced. And they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them.
Jg 21:24And the children of Israel departed from there at that time, each man to his tribe and to his family; and they went forth from there, each man to his inheritance.
Jg 21:25In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
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