Judges 21
21:1And the man of Israel swore by an oath in Mizpeh, saying, No man from us shall give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.
21:2And all the people came unto Beth-el, and sat there until evening before God. And they lifted their voice and wept a great weeping.
21:3And they said, Why, O lord God of Israel, was this taken place in Israel, to overlook today in Israel one tribe?
21:4And it happened the next day that the people rose early, and they built there an altar, and offered a whole burnt-offering of deliverance.
21:5And the sons of Israel said, Who is the one not ascending among the assembly from all of the tribes of Israel to the lord? For there was a great oath concerning the one not ascending to the lord in Mizpeh, saying, To death he shall die.
21:6And the sons of Israel relented concerning their brother Benjamin, and said, one tribe from Israel is removed today.
21:7What should we do to them, to the ones left behind for wives, for we swore by an oath to the lord to not give to them from our daughters for wives?
21:8And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel which did not ascend to the lord in Mizpeh? And behold, no man came to the camp from Jabish Gilead to the assembly.
21:9And the people were numbered, And behold, there is not there a man from the ones dwelling in Jabish Gilead.
21:10And the congregation sent there twelve thousand men from the sons of the force. And they gave charge to them, saying, Go and strike all the ones dwelling in Jabish Gilead by the mouth of the broadsword, even the women and the people!
21:11And this is the word which you shall do. Every male and every woman knowing the marriage-bed of a man you shall devote to consumption.
21:12And they found of ones dwelling Jabish Gilead four hundred young women virgins, the ones that knew not a man, in the marriage-bed of a man. And they led them into the camp in Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan.
21:13And all the congregation sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin, of the ones at the rock of Rimmon, and they called them for peace.
21:14And Benjamin returned to the sons of Israel in that time, and they gave them the women who were of the women of Jabish Gilead, and it pleased them thus.
21:15And the people were comforted concerning Benjamin, for the lord made a breach among the tribes of Israel.
21:16And the elders of the congregation said, What shall we do to the remaining for wives, now that the woman was removed from Benjamin?
21:17And he said, An inheritance for the ones surviving to Benjamin, that in no way a tribe should be wiped away from Israel.
21:18For we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters, for the sons of Israel swore by an oath, saying, Accursed is the one giving a wife to Benjamin.
21:19And they said, Behold, there is a holiday to the lord in Shiloh from days to days, which is from the north of Beth-el, according to the rising of the sun, upon the corridor ascending from Beth-el unto Shechem, and from south of Lebonah.
21:20And they gave charge to the sons of Benjamin, saying, Go forth and lie in wait at the vineyards!
21:21And look and behold, whenever the daughters of the ones dwelling in Shiloh should come forth joining in a dance with a company of dancers, then you shall come forth from the vineyards, and let a man seize by force to himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh! then you shall depart unto the land of Benjamin.
21:22And it will be whenever their fathers or their brothers should come to quarrel with us, that we shall say to them, Show mercy on them! for a man did not take to himself a wife in the battle, for you did not give to them according to the time which you trespassed.
21:23And the sons of Benjamin did thus; and they took wives according to their number from the ones dancing, whom they snatched. And they went and returned unto their inheritance, and they built up the cities, and dwelt in them.
21:24And the sons of Israel walked from there in that time, each man to his tribe, and to his kin; and each man went forth from there to his inheritance.
21:25In those days there was not a king in Israel. A man did the upright thing in his eyes.