JudgesChapter 21

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¹Now the men of Israel had made a promise at Mizpah. They had sworn, "None of us will let his daughter marry a man from Benjamin." ²So the people went to Bethel. They sat there before God until evening. They cried out loud and wept bitterly. ³"LORD, God of Israel," they cried, "why has this happened in Israel? Today one tribe is missing from Israel!" ⁴The next day the people got up early and built an altar there. They brought burnt offerings and peace offerings. ⁵Then the Israelites asked, "Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come to the meeting before the LORD?" They had made a serious promise. Anyone who did not come before the LORD at Mizpah must be put to death. ⁶The Israelites felt sorry for their brothers, the people of Benjamin. They said, "Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel. ⁷How can we get wives for the men who are left? We have promised by the LORD not to let our daughters marry them." ⁸So they asked, "Which tribe of Israel did not come before the LORD at Mizpah?" And it turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the meeting. ⁹When the people were counted, no one from Jabesh-gilead was there. ¹⁰So the community sent 12,000 of their bravest men. They gave them this order: "Go and kill everyone living in Jabesh-gilead with the sword. Kill the women and children too. ¹¹This is what you must do. Completely destroy every male. Also destroy every woman who has slept with a man." ¹²Among the people living in Jabesh-gilead, they found 400 young women who had never slept with a man. They brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. ¹³Then the whole community sent a message to the men of Benjamin at the rock of Rimmon. They offered them peace. ¹⁴So the men of Benjamin came back at that time. They were given the women of Jabesh-gilead who had been allowed to live. But there were not enough women for all of them. ¹⁵The people felt sorry for Benjamin. The LORD had left a gap in the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶Then the elders of the community said, "How can we get wives for the men who are left? The women of Benjamin have been destroyed." ¹⁷They said, "The men of Benjamin who lived must have children to carry on. Then a tribe of Israel won't be wiped out. ¹⁸But we can't let our daughters marry them." That was because the Israelites had sworn, "A curse on anyone who gives a wife to a man from Benjamin!" ¹⁹"But look," they said. "Every year there is a feast to the LORD in Shiloh. Shiloh is north of Bethel and south of Lebonah. It is east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem." ²⁰So they told the men of Benjamin, "Go and hide in the vineyards. ²¹Watch. The young women of Shiloh will come out to dance. When you see them, come out of the vineyards. Each of you grab a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh. Then go back to the land of Benjamin. ²²Their fathers or brothers may come to us to complain. Then we'll tell them, 'Please be kind to these men for our sake. We didn't get a wife for each of them in the war. And you aren't guilty, because you didn't actually give them your daughters.'" ²³So the men of Benjamin did this. Each man grabbed one of the dancing women and carried her away as his wife. They took as many as they needed. Then they went back to their own land. They rebuilt their towns and lived in them. ²⁴At that time the Israelites left that place. Each man went home to his own tribe and clan, to his own land. ²⁵In those days Israel had no king. Everyone did whatever seemed right to them.