Judges 21
Legacy Standard Bible
A Tribe Is Cut Off
21 Now the men of Israel (A)had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” 2 (B)So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening and lifted up their voices and wept [a]bitterly. 3 And they said, “Why, O Yahweh, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today from Israel?” 4 Now it happened 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 Yahweh?” For [b]they had taken a great oath concerning him (D)who did not come up to Yahweh 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? But we have (E)sworn by Yahweh not to give them any of our daughters in marriage.”
Sons of Benjamin Steal the Daughters of Shiloh
8 So they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. 9 Indeed the people were [c]numbered, but behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10 And the congregation sent 12,000 of the men of valor 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 Now this is the thing that you shall do: you (G)shall devote to destruction every man and every woman who has known, that is 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 [d]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)called out peace to them. 14 Then Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; yet they did not find [e]enough for them. 15 And the people were sorry for Benjamin because Yahweh 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 And they said, “There must be a possession 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 Yahweh from year to year in (K)Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on [f]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 [g](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 And it will be when their fathers or their brothers come to contend with us, that we shall say to them, ‘Be gracious to us concerning them because we did not take for each man of Benjamin [h]a wife in the battle, [i](M)and you did not give your daughters to them; otherwise you would now be guilty.’” 23 And the sons of Benjamin did so and carried away wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they stole away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and (N)rebuilt the cities and lived in them. 24 Then the sons of Israel went away 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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 21:2 Lit with great weeping
- Judges 21:5 Lit there was a great oath
- Judges 21:9 Or mustered
- Judges 21:12 Lit a male
- Judges 21:14 Lit it so
- Judges 21:19 Lit to the sunrise
- Judges 21:21 Lit dance
- Judges 21:22 Lit his
- Judges 21:22 Lit because
Judges 21
Evangelical Heritage Version
Rebuilding the Tribe of Benjamin
21 Previously the men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not a man from among us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite as his wife.”
2 The people came to Bethel and remained there before God until evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3 They said, “Why, Lord God of Israel, has this happened in Israel, that today one tribe has been removed from Israel?”
4 The next day, when the people rose early, they built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
5 Then the Israelites said, “From all the tribes of Israel, was there anyone who did not come up to the assembly of Israel before the Lord?” For they had taken this solemn oath against anyone who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah: “He will certainly be put to death.”
6 Then the people of Israel felt compassion toward Benjamin, their brother, and they said, “One tribe of Israel is cut off today. 7 What can be done to provide wives for those who remain? We have sworn by the Lord not to give any of our daughters to them as wives.”
8 So then they asked, “Was there anyone from the tribes of Israel who did not go up to the Lord at Mizpah?” They found that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the assembly at the camp. 9 In fact, when the roll call had been taken, not a man was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead.
10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand powerful warriors and commanded them, “Go and strike down the people who live at Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children. 11 This is what you are to do: Every male and every woman who has known the bed of a male, you shall devote to destruction.”
12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who were virgins, who had never known a man by lying down with a male. They brought the four hundred women to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the entire assembly sent a message to the Benjaminites who were at the Rock of Rimmon. They extended an offer of peace to them. 14 The Benjaminites then returned, and the Israelites gave them the women that they had kept alive from Jabesh Gilead.
But they did not find enough wives for all of them. 15 Once more the people had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had left an empty spot among the tribes of the Lord. 16 So the elders of the assembly asked, “What shall we do to get wives for those who were spared, since the women from Benjamin have been wiped out?” 17 They said, “There must be a way to provide an inheritance for the surviving remnant of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel! 18 But we cannot give them wives from our daughters, because the people of Israel have sworn, ‘Cursed is anyone who gives a woman to Benjamin.’”
19 But then someone said, “Look! There is an annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes from Bethel toward Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
20 So they commanded the Benjaminites, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards 21 and watch. Then when the daughters of Shiloh come out to join in the dances, come out from the vineyards, and each man should seize a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh. Then return to the land of Benjamin. 22 If it happens that their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will say to them, ‘Be gracious to them, because we failed to capture a woman for each man during the battle, and you did not break your oath that you would not give your daughters, so you will not incur guilt.’”
23 So that is what the Benjaminites did. They grabbed and carried off as many women as they needed from among the dancers. Then they went and returned to their family property, rebuilt their cities, and lived in them.
24 At the same time the Israelites returned from there. Each man returned to the territory of his tribe and clan, each man to his own family property.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel, and every man did whatever was right in his own eyes.
Read full chapterLegacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.