Judges 21:16-24

New Catholic Bible

¹⁶ The elders in the assembly said, “How are we going to provide wives for the rest of them? For the women of Benjamin have been annihilated.” ¹⁷ They said, “The Benjaminite survivors must have an inheritance, so that a tribe of Israel will not be blotted out. ¹⁸ We cannot give them our daughters as wives, for the Israelites have sworn an oath saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin!’ ” ¹⁹ They continued, “But look, there is an annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, to the north of Bethel and east of the road that runs from Bethel to Shechem and on to the south of Lebonah.” ²⁰ They instructed the Benjaminites, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards and stay on watch. ²¹ When the young women of Shiloh come out dancing, rise up out of the vineyards and each man can seize a wife for himself from the young women of Shiloh, and then return to Benjamin. ²² When their fathers and their brothers complain to us, we will say, ‘Please do us this favor, for we did not take a wife for each of them during the war. You are not guilty, for you did not really give your women to them.’ ”

²³ This is what the Benjaminites did. Each man took a wife for himself from among the young women who were dancing. They then went and returned to their inheritance, rebuilding the cities and dwelling in them. ²⁴ The Israelites then left that place and each man went to his own tribe, his own clan. Each man returned to his own inheritance.