CHAPTER 21
Now the men
of Israel
had sworn an oath
at Mizpah,
saying,
“Not one
of us
will give his daughter
in marriage
to a Benjamite.”
So the people
came
to Bethel
and sat
there
before
God
until
evening,
lifting up
their voices
and weeping
bitterly.
“Why,
O LORD
God
of Israel,”
they cried out,
“has this
happened
in Israel?
Today
in Israel
one
tribe
is missing!”
The next day
the people
got up early,
built
an altar
there,
and presented
burnt offerings
and peace offerings.
The Israelites
asked,
“Who
among all
the tribes
of Israel
did not
come
to the assembly
before
the LORD?”
For
they had taken
a solemn
oath
that anyone
who failed
to come up
before
the LORD
at Mizpah
would surely be put to death.
And the Israelites
grieved
for
their brothers,
the Benjamites,
and said,
“Today
a
tribe
is cut off
from Israel.
What
should we do
about wives
for the survivors,
since we
have sworn
by the LORD
not
to give
them
our daughters
in marriage?”
So they asked,
“Which
one
of the tribes
of Israel
failed
to come up
before
the LORD
at Mizpah?”
And in fact,
no one
from Jabesh-gilead
had come
to
the camp
for the assembly.
So the congregation
sent
12,000
of
their most valiant
men
and commanded them:
“Go
and put
to the sword
those living
in Jabesh-gilead,
including women
and children.
This
is what
you are to do:
Completely destroy
every
male,
as well as every
female
who has had relations with
a man.”
So they found
among the inhabitants
of Jabesh-gilead
four
hundred
young
women
who
had not
had relations with
a man,
and they brought
them to
the camp
at Shiloh
in the land
of Canaan.
Then the whole
congregation
sent
a message
of peace
to
the Benjamites
who
were at the rock
of Rimmon.
And at that
time
the Benjamites
returned
and were given
the women
who were spared
from Jabesh-gilead.
But there were not
enough women
for all of them.
Then the elders
of the congregation
said,
“What
should we do
about wives
for those who remain,
since
the women
of Benjamin
have been destroyed?”
They added,
“There must be heirs
for the survivors
of Benjamin,
so that a tribe
of Israel
will not
be wiped out.
But we
cannot
give
them our daughters
as wives.”
For
the Israelites
had sworn,
“Cursed is
he who gives
a wife
to a Benjamite.”
“But look,”
they said,
“there is a yearly
feast
to the LORD
in Shiloh,
which is
north
of
Bethel
east
of the road
that goes up
from
Bethel
to Shechem,
and south
of Lebonah.”
and watch.
When
you see
the daughters
of Shiloh
come out
to perform
their dances,
each of you
is to come out
of the vineyards,
catch
for himself
a wife
from
the daughters
of Shiloh,
and go
to the land
of Benjamin.
When
their fathers
or
brothers
come
to us
to complain,
we will tell them,
‘Do us a favor
by helping them,
since
we did not
get
wives
for each of them
in the war.
Since
you
did not
actually
give
them your daughters,
you have no guilt.'"
The Benjamites
did
as instructed
and carried away
the number
of women
they needed from
the dancers
they caught.
They went
back
to
their own inheritance,
rebuilt
their cities,
and settled
in them.
And at that
time,
each
of the Israelites
returned
from there
to his own tribe
and clan,
each
to his own inheritance.