Wives for the Benjamites

21 The men of Israel had taken an oath^(A) at Mizpah:^(B) “Not one of us will give^(C) his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”

² The people went to Bethel,^[a] where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. ³ “Lord, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing^(D) from Israel today?”

⁴ Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.^(E)

⁶ Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said.

¹⁵ The people grieved for Benjamin,^(A) because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.