Judges 21:1-25

The men of Israel had bound themselves by an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.” And then the people came to Bethel and sat until evening before God, and they raised their voice with groaning and great weeping. They said, “YAHWEH, the true God of Israel, we have lost one of our own tribes today. Why has this happened to Israel?” When the next day dawned, the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the Israelites asked one another, “Which tribe of Israel failed to appear in our assembly before YAHWEH?” Under the terms of their solemn oath, whoever did not come before YAHWEH at Mizpah should be put to death. Even so, the Israelites had compassion for their brothers of the tribe of Benjamin and were grieved deeply over their loss. They lamented, “One of our tribes has been eliminated from Israel this day. How can we provide wives for the few survivors since we have sworn by YAHWEH that we will not give any of our daughters as wives for them?” Then they inquired, “Were there any from the tribes of Israel who did not come up before YAHWEH at Mizpah?” They found out that no one from Jabesh-Gilead had come to the assembly. When the roll was called among the people, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead was there. So the people sent twelve thousand soldiers with the command: “Go to the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead and kill them with the sword, including the women and children. This is what you are to do: exterminate every man and every woman who is not a virgin.” And they found four hundred unmarried young virgins among those living in Jabesh-Gilead. They seized them and brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. Then the whole congregation sent word to the Benjamites at Rimmon Rock and offered them peace. The Benjamites returned, and the Israelites presented the young women they had spared at Jabesh-Gilead. But they were not a sufficient number of wives for them all. The people were remorseful and had compassion on the tribe of Benjamin because YAHWEH had taken out a tribe of Israel. The elders of the tribes said, “Where are we to find wives for the survivors of Benjamin since there are no more women left in their tribe?” And they said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin to prevent the tribe from being wiped out from Israel. Yet we cannot give them any of our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “A curse will rest on anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.” So they said, “Look, YAHWEH’s yearly festival is taking place at Shiloh, just north of Bethel, and east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and a little south of Lebonah.” And they instructed the Benjamites, “Go and hide in the vineyards. Watch for the young women of Shiloh to come out for their dances. When they come out of the vineyards, grab one of the young women of Shiloh to be your wife. Then go and live in your tribal land of Benjamin. If their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we’ll tell them, ‘Do us this favor, please. Grant us permission for the Benjamites to keep them as wives because in battle we didn’t seize them from you. And since you didn’t give them to us, you’re not guilty of breaking your oath.’ ” So the Benjamites took as many wives as there were men from among the dancers, and they carried them away. Then they returned to their own territory and rebuilt towns to live in. The Israelites dispersed by tribes and families, and they went out from there to their own territories. In those days, Israel had no king, and everyone did whatever they wanted to do.