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The Book of Judges

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- Chapter 21 -

1
When the Israelite men had gathered at Mizpah before the battle started, they solemnly declared, “None of us will ever allow one of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin!”
2
But now the Israelites went to Bethel and cried loudly to Yahweh all day until the sun went down.
3
They kept saying, “Yahweh, God of us Israelite people, one of the tribes of us Israelites does not exist anymore! Why has this happened to us?
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 restore fellowship with God.
5
Then, because they had solemnly declared 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?”
6
The Israelites felt sorry for their fellow Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin. They said, “Today one of our Israelite tribes has been cut off from Israel.
7
What can we do to make certain that the men of the tribe of Benjamin who were not killed will have wives?” Yahweh heard us solemnly declare that we would not allow any of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin.
8
Then one of them asked, “Which of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
9
They realized that when the soldiers were counted, there was no one who had come from the city of Jabesh Gilead.
10
So all the Israelites decided to send twelve thousand very good soldiers to Jabesh Gilead to kill the people there, even the women and the children.
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.”
12
So those soldiers went to Jabesh Gilead and killed all the men, married women, and the children. But they found four hundred virgin young women there. So they brought them to their camp at Shiloh in Canaan, across the river from the region of Gilead that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.
13
Then all the Israelites who had gathered sent a message to the six hundred men who were at the rock of Rimmon. They said that they would like to make peace with them.
14
So the men came back from the rock of Rimmon. The Israelites gave to them the young women from Jabesh Gilead. But there were only four hundred women There were not enough women for those six hundred men.
15
The Israelites still felt sorry for the men of the tribe of Benjamin, because Yahweh had set the other tribes against them.
16
The Israelite 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?
17
These men must have wives to give birth to children, in order that their families of Benjamin will continue. If that does not happen, all the people of one of the tribes of Israel will all die out, and the tribe will be destroyed.
18
But we cannot allow our daughters to marry these men, because we solemnly declared that Yahweh will curse anyone who gives one of his daughters to become a wife of any man of the tribe of Benjamin.”
19
Then they had an idea. They 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 the city of Lebonah.”
20
So the Israelite 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.
21
Keep watching for the young women to come out of the city to dance. When they come out, 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.
22
If their fathers or brothers come to us and complain about what you have done, we will say to them, ‘Act kindly toward 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 give any of your daughters to marry one of them.’”
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.
24
The other Israelites went to their home in the areas where their tribes and clans lived, the areas that God had allotted to them.
25
At that time, the Israelite people did not have a king. Everyone did what was right according to his own opinion.
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1
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”
2
The people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely.
3
They said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be one tribe lacking in Israel today?”
4
On the next day, the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5
The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn’t come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”
6
The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “There is one tribe cut off from Israel today.
7
How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?”
8
They said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up to the LORD to Mizpah?” Behold, no one came from Jabesh Gilead to the camp to the assembly.
9
For when the people were counted, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there.
10
The congregation sent twelve thousand of the most valiant men there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.
11
This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man.”
12
They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13
The whole congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.
14
Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead. There still weren’t enough for them.
15
The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16
Then the elders of the congregation said, “How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?”
17
They said, “There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.
18
However, we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, ‘Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.’”
19
They said, “Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.”
20
They commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
21
and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22
It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we didn’t take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them; otherwise you would now be guilty.’”
23
The children of Benjamin did so, and took wives for themselves according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them.
24
The children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they each went out from there to his own inheritance.
25
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
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