Mourning Lost Tribe

21 Now the men of Israel ^(A)had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin ^[a]in marriage.” ^2 (B)So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept ^[b]bitterly. ³ They said, “Why, O Lord, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?” ⁴ It came about the next day that the people arose early and built ^(C)an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

⁵ Then the sons of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” For ^[c]they had taken a great oath concerning him ^(D)who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” ⁶ And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. ⁷ What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have ^(E)sworn by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?”

Provision for Their Survival

⁸ And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. ⁹ For when the people were ^[d]numbered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. ¹⁰ And the congregation sent 12,000 of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and ^(F)strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. ¹¹ This is the thing that you shall do: you ^(G)shall utterly destroy every man and every woman who has ^[e]lain with a man.” ¹² And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with ^[f]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 ^(H)at the rock of Rimmon, and ^(I)proclaimed peace to them. ¹⁴ Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; yet they ^[g]were not enough for them. ¹⁵ And the people were sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶ Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” ¹⁷ They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel. ¹⁸ But we cannot give them wives of our daughters.” For the sons of Israel ^(J)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 ^(K)Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway 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 ^[h](L)take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ²² It shall come about, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, ‘Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin ^[i]a wife in battle, ^[j](M)nor did you give them to them, else 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 carried away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and ^(N)rebuilt the cities and lived in them. ²⁴ The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance.

^25 (O)In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.

The Word of Faith Brings Salvation

10 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. ² For I testify about them that they have ^(A)a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. ³ For not knowing about ^(B)God’s righteousness and ^(C)seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. ⁴ For ^(D)Christ is the ^[a]end of the law for righteousness to ^(E)everyone who believes.

⁵ For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is ^[b]based on law ^(F)shall live ^[c]by that righteousness. ⁶ But ^(G)the righteousness ^[d]based on faith speaks as follows: “^(H)Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), ⁷ or ‘Who will descend into the ^(I)abyss?’ (that is, to ^(J)bring Christ up from the dead).” ⁸ But what does it say? “^(K)The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, ^9 [e]that ^(L)if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and ^(M)believe in your heart that ^(N)God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, ^[f]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, ^[g]resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “^(O)Whoever believes in Him will not be ^[h]disappointed.” ¹² For ^(P)there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is ^(Q)Lord of ^(R)all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “^(S)Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him ^(T)whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without ^(U)a preacher? ¹⁵ How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “^(V)How beautiful are the feet of those who ^[i](W)bring good news of good things!”

¹⁶ However, they ^(X)did not all heed the ^[j]good news; for Isaiah says, “^(Y)Lord, who has believed our report?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from ^(Z)hearing, and hearing by ^(AA)the word ^[k]of Christ.

¹⁸ But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have;

¹⁹ But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says,

²⁰ And Isaiah is very bold and says,

²¹ But as for Israel He says, “^(AF)All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”