Judges:21

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* Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah , saying , "None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife ." * Then the people came to the house of God , and remained there before God till evening . They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly , * and said , "O LORD God of Israel , why has this come to pass in Israel , that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel ?" * So it was , on the next morning , that the people rose early and built an altar there , and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings . * The children of Israel said , "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the LORD ?" For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the LORD at Mizpah , saying , "He shall surely be put to death ." * And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother , and said , "One tribe is cut off from Israel today . * What shall we do for wives for those who remain , seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives ?" * And they said , "What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD ?" And , in fact , no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly . * For when the people were counted , indeed , not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there . * So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men , and commanded them , saying , "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword , including the women and children . * And this is the thing that you shall do : You shall utterly destroy every male , and every woman who has known a man intimately ." * So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately ; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh , which is in the land of Canaan . * Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon , and announced peace to them . * So Benjamin came back at that time , and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead ; and yet they had not found enough for them . * And the people grieved for Benjamin , because the LORD had made a void 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 of Benjamin have been destroyed ?" * And they said , "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin , that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel . * However , we cannot give them wives from our daughters , for the children of Israel have sworn an oath , saying , "Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin ."' * Then they said , "In fact , there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh , which is north of Bethel , on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem , and south of Lebonah ." * Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin , saying , "Go , lie in wait in the vineyards , * and watch ; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances , then come out from the vineyards , and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh ; then go to the land of Benjamin . * Then it shall be , when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain , that we will say to them , "Be kind to them for our sakes , because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war ; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time , making yourselves guilty of your oath ."' * And the children of Benjamin did so ; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced , whom they caught . Then they went and returned to their inheritance , and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them . * So the children of Israel departed from there at that time , every man to his tribe and family ; they went out from there , every man to his inheritance . * In those days there was no king in Israel ; everyone did what was right in his own eyes .

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