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Judges 21:10-25
New American Standard Bible
Judges 21:10-25
New American Standard Bible
10 And the congregation sent twelve thousand [a]of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and (A)strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, along with the women and the children. 11 And this is the thing that you shall do: you (B)shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has [b]slept with a male.” 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man by [c]sleeping with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole congregation sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were (C)at the rock of Rimmon, and (D)proclaimed peace to them. 14 And the tribe of Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had allowed to live from the women of Jabesh-gilead; but they [d]were not enough for them. 15 And the people were sorry for Benjamin, because the Lord had created a gap in the tribes of Israel.
16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What are we to do for wives for those who are left, since the women have been eliminated from Benjamin?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel. 18 But we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the sons of Israel (E)had sworn, saying, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin!”
19 So they said, “Behold, there is a feast of the Lord from year to year in (F)Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah.” 20 And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, 21 and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to [e](G)take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards, and each of you shall seize his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, ‘[f]Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin [g]a wife in battle, [h](H)nor did you give them to them, [i]otherwise you would now be guilty.’” 23 The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they seized. And they went and returned to their inheritance, and (I)rebuilt the cities and lived in them. 24 And the sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one departed from there to his inheritance.
25 (J)In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 21:10 Lit men from the sons of valor
- Judges 21:11 Lit known the bed of
- Judges 21:12 Lit the bed of a male
- Judges 21:14 Lit did not find it so
- Judges 21:21 Lit dance
- Judges 21:22 Lit Favor us with them
- Judges 21:22 Lit his
- Judges 21:22 Lit because you did not
- Judges 21:22 Lit as
Judges 21:10-25
New International Version
Judges 21:10-25
New International Version
10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. 11 “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Kill every male(A) and every woman who is not a virgin.(B)” 12 They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh(C) in Canaan.
13 Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace(D) to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon.(E) 14 So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
15 The people grieved for Benjamin,(F) because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 And the elders of the assembly said, “With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? 17 The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.(G) 18 We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath:(H) ‘Cursed be anyone who gives(I) a wife to a Benjamite.’ 19 But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh,(J) which lies north of Bethel(K), east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem,(L) and south of Lebonah.”
20 So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing,(M) rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give(N) your daughters to them.’”
23 So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing,(O) each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance(P) and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.(Q)
24 At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.
25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.(R)
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