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 to the Benjaminites as wife.
2 The Israelites went to Bethel and sat there before God until the evening, crying loudly in distress.
And the people came to Bethel, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly,
3 “Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened to Israel?” they asked. “Today one of our tribes is missing from Israel.”
and said, Jehovah, God of Israel, why is it come to pass in Israel, that there should be this day 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 up 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 with the congregation to Jehovah? For they had [made] a great oath concerning him that came not up to Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall certainly 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, To-day is one tribe extirpated from Israel.
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?”
What shall we do for wives for them that remain? since we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters for 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 to Mizpah to Jehovah? And behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-Gilead, to the congregation;
9 for once they had done a head count, there was nobody there from Jabesh-gilead.
for the people were numbered, and 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 assembly sent thither twelve thousand men of the most valiant and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead with the edge of the sword, and the women and the children.
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 which ye shall do: ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain with 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 women that were virgins, who had known no man by lying with any male, and they brought them to 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 assembly sent to speak to the children of Benjamin that were at the cliff of Rimmon, and to proclaim peace to 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 came again at that time; and they gave them the wives whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-Gilead; but even so they found not enough for them.
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 Jehovah 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?”
And the elders of the assembly said, What shall we do for wives for them that remain? for the women have been 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 a possession for those of Benjamin that have escaped, that a tribe be not blotted out of 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!’”
But we cannot give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to the Benjaminites!
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 Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, toward the sun-rising of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
20 So they ordered the Benjamites, “Go and hide in the vineyards.
And they commanded the sons 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 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 to us, that we will say to them, Gratify us with them, because we did not take each man his wife in the war; for ye did not give them to them, that ye should 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 wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught; and they went and returned to 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 what was right in his own eyes.
