Now the men of Israel ^ahad sworn an oath at Mizpah, “None of us shall give his daughter in marriage to a man of Benjamin.” 2 ^aSo the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. Judg 20:27 3 They said, “O LORD, God of Israel, why has this come about in Israel, that there should be today one tribe missing from Israel?” 4 And the next day the people got up early and built ^aan altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

5 Then the sons of Israel said, “Which one from all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him ^awho did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall certainly be put to death.” 6 And the sons of Israel felt sorry and had compassion for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe has been cut off from Israel today. 7 What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have ^asworn an oath by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?”

8 And they said, “Which one is there of the tribes from Israel that did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD?” And behold, it was discovered that no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. 9 For when the people were assembled, behold, there was not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. 10 And the congregation sent twelve thousand of the most courageous men there, and commanded them saying, “Go and ^astrike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including the women and the children. 11 And this is the thing that you shall do; you shall ^autterly destroy every male and every woman who ¹is not a virgin.” 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the surviving sons of Benjamin who were ^aat the rock of Rimmon, and ^bproclaimed peace to them. 14 So the survivors of Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; but there were not enough to provide wives for them. 15 And the people were sorry and had compassion for the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin because the LORD had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those men who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 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 ^ahad sworn an oath, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.”

19 So they said, “Listen, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at ^aShiloh, 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 So they instructed the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go, set an ambush in the vineyards, 21 and watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to ^adance 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 the tribe of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, ‘Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take a wife for each man of Benjamin in battle, ^anor did you give wives to them, for that would have made you guilty of breaking your oath.’” 23 So the sons of the tribe of Benjamin did as instructed and took wives according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried away. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and ^arebuilt the towns and lived in them. 24 The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, each man to his tribe and family, and each man went from there to his inheritance.

25 ^aIn those days when the judges governed there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Now the men of Israel ^ahad sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin ¹in marriage.” 2 ^aSo the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and raised their voices and wept ¹profusely. 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 ^aan 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 ¹they had taken a solemn oath concerning anyone ^awho 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 ^asworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters as wives?”

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 ¹counted, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10 And the congregation sent twelve thousand ¹of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and ^astrike 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 ^ashall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has ¹slept with a male.” 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man by ¹sleeping 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 ^aat the rock of Rimmon, and ^bproclaimed 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 ¹were 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 ^ahad 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 ^aShiloh, 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 ^1atake 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, ‘¹Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin ²a wife in battle, ^3anor did you give them to them, ⁴otherwise 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 ^arebuilt 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 ^aIn those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.