Judges 21:1-12

English Standard Version

Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin

21 Now the men of Israel had sworn ^(A)at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” ² And the people came to ^(B)Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. ³ And they said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” ⁴ And the next day the people rose early and ^(C)built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ⁵ And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” ^(D)For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” ⁶ And the people of Israel ^(E)had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. ^7 (F)What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”

⁸ And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from ^(G)Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. ⁹ For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of ^(H)Jabesh-gilead was there. ¹⁰ So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, ^(I)“Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. ¹¹ This is what you shall do: ^(J)every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” ¹² And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at ^(K)Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.