Judges:21

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* Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah , saying , There shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin to wife . * And the people came to Bethel , and sat there till evening before God , and lifted up their voices , and wept bitterly . * And they said , O LORD , the God of Israel , why has this come to pass in Israel , that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel ? * And it came to pass on the morrow , that the people rose early , and built there an altar , and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings . * And the sons of Israel said , Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that did not come up in the assembly to LORD ? For they had made a great oath concerning him who did not come up to LORD to Mizpah , saying , He shall surely be * And the sons of Israel regretted for Benjamin their brother , and said , There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day . * What shall we do for wives for those who remain , since we have sworn by LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives ? * And they said , Which one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to LORD to Mizpah ? And , behold , there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly . * For when the people were numbered , behold , there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there . * And the congregation sent there 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 , with the women and the little ones . * And this is the thing that ye shall do : Ye shall utterly destroy every male , and every woman that has lain by man . * And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known man by laying with him , and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh , which is in the land of Canaan . * And the whole congregation sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon , and proclaimed peace to them . * And Benjamin returned at that time , and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead . And even so they were not sufficient for them . * And the people regretted for Benjamin , because LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel . * Then the elders of the congregation said , What shall we do for wives for those who remain , since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin ? * And they said , There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin , that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel . * However we may not give them wives of our daughters , for the sons of Israel had sworn , saying , Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin . * And they said , Behold , there is a feast of 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 . * And they commanded the sons of Benjamin , saying , Go and lay in wait in the vineyards , * and watch . And , behold , if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances , then come ye out of the vineyards , and catch for you every man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh , and go to the land of Benjamin . * And 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 took not for each man [of them ] his wife in battle , neither did ye give them to them , e * And the sons of Benjamin did so , and took for them wives , according to their number , of those who danced , whom they carried off . And they went and returned to their inheritance , and built the cities , and dwelt in them . * And the sons of Israel departed from there at that time , every man to his tribe and to his family , and they went out from there every man to his inheritance . * In those days there was no king in Israel . Every man did that which was right in his own eyes .

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