Judges 21
New American Standard Bible
Mourning a 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 raised their voices and wept [b]profusely. 3 And they said, “Why, Lord, God of Israel, has this happened in Israel, that one tribe is missing today from Israel?” 4 And it came about the next day that the people got up 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 go up to the Lord in the assembly?” For [c]they had taken a solemn oath concerning anyone (D)who did not go up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, “He shall certainly be put to death.” 6 And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin, and said, “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel! 7 What are we to do for wives for those who are left, since we have (E)sworn by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives?”
Provision for Their Survival
8 And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not go 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]counted, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10 And the congregation sent twelve thousand [e]of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and (F)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 (G)shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has [f]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 [g]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 (H)at the rock of Rimmon, and (I)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 [h]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 (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 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 [i](L)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, ‘[j]Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin [k]a wife in battle, [l](M)nor did you give them to them, [m]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 (N)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 (O)In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Footnotes
- Judges 21:1 Lit as a wife
- Judges 21:2 Lit with great weeping
- Judges 21:5 Lit there was a great oath
- Judges 21:9 Or mustered
- 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
Common English Bible
Wives for the Benjaminites
21 The Israelites had made a pledge at Mizpah, declaring, “None of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.” 2 But the people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God, raising their voices and crying bitterly. 3 “Lord, God of Israel,” they said, “why has this happened among us that as of today one tribe will be missing from Israel?” 4 And the next day, the people got up early and built an altar there. They offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices.
5 Then the Israelites asked, “Were there any out of all the tribes of Israel who didn’t march up to the assembly before the Lord?” Indeed, they had made a solemn pledge that anyone who didn’t march up before the Lord at Mizpah would be put to death. 6 The Israelites had a change of heart concerning their relatives the Benjaminites. They said, “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel. 7 What can we do to provide wives for the ones who are left, since we ourselves have made a pledge before the Lord not to allow our daughters to marry them?” 8 So they asked, “Is there anyone from the tribes of Israel who didn’t march up before the Lord at Mizpah?” There was! No one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the assembly at the camp. 9 When the people’s attendance was taken, not one of those who lived in Jabesh-gilead had been there.
10 The community dispatched twelve thousand warriors there with these orders: “Go kill all the people in Jabesh-gilead, including women and children. 11 Here’s what you should do: Exterminate every man and every woman who has slept with a man.” 12 Among the people of Jabesh-gilead, they found four hundred young women who had not known a man intimately or slept with one, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. 13 The whole community then sent word to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon and offered them a truce.[a] 14 So the Benjaminites returned at that time, and they gave them the women from Jabesh-gilead that they had allowed to live. Even so, there weren’t enough for them.
15 Since the people had a change of heart concerning the Benjaminites because the Lord had caused a rupture in the tribes of Israel, 16 the community elders said, “What can we do to provide wives for the ones who are left, seeing that the Benjaminite women have been destroyed? 17 There must be a surviving line for those who remain from Benjamin,” they continued, “so that a tribe won’t be erased from Israel. 18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them, for we Israelites have made this pledge: ‘Let anyone who provides a wife for Benjamin be cursed!’ 19 However,” they said, “the annual festival of the Lord is under way in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 20 So they instructed the Benjaminites, “Go and hide like an ambush in the vineyards 21 and watch. At the moment the women of Shiloh come out to participate in the dances, rush out from the vineyards. Each one of you, capture a wife for yourself from the women of Shiloh and go back to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers come to us to object, we’ll tell them, ‘Do us a favor for their sake. We didn’t capture enough women for every man during the battle, and this way you are not guilty because you didn’t give them anything willingly.’” 23 And that is what the Benjaminites did. They took wives for their whole group from the dancers whom they abducted. They returned to their territory, rebuilt the cities, and lived in them. 24 Likewise, the Israelites set out from there at that time, heading home to their respective tribes and clans. They all left there for their own territories.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel; each person did what they thought to be right.
Footnotes
- Judges 21:13 Or peace
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Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible