Judges
Chapter 21

21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn inMizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter untoBenjamin to wife.
21:2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode theretill even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
21:3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass inIsrael, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel ?
21:4 And it came to pass the next day, that the people roseearly, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings andpeace offerings.
21:5 And the children of Israel said, Who [is there] among allthe tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation untothe LORD ? For they had made a great oath concerning him thatcame not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be putto death.
21:6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin theirbrother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel thisday.
21:7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing wehave sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of ourdaughters to wives ?
21:8 And they said, What one [is there] of the tribes of Israelthat came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD ? And, behold, there camenone to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.
21:9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, [there were] noneof the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
21:10 And the congregation sent there twelve thousand men ofthe valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and strike theinhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with thewomen and the children.
21:11 And this [is] the thing that ya'll shall do, ya'll shall utterlydestroy every male, and every woman that has lain by man.
21:12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead fourhundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with anymale and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which [is] inthe land of Canaan.
21:13 And the whole congregation sent [some] to speak to thechildren of Benjamin that [were] in the rock Rimmon, and to callpeaceably to them.
21:14And Benjamin came again at that time ; and they gave themwives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead andyet so they sufficed them not.
21:15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
21:16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we dofor wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyedout of Benjamin ?
21:17 And they said, [There must be] an inheritance for them thatbe escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out ofIsrael.
21:18 However we may not give them wives of our daughters for thechildren of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed [be] he that givesa wife to Benjamin.
21:19 Then they said, Behold, [there is] a feast of the LORD inShiloh yearly [in a place] which [is] on the north side ofBethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethelto Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
21:20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying,Go and lie in wait in the vineyards ;
21:21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come outto dance in dances, then come ya'll out of the vineyards, and catchyou every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to theland of Benjamin.
21:22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren comeunto us to complain, that we will say to them, Be favourableunto them for our sakes because we reserved not to each man hiswife in the war for ya'll did not give to them at this time,[that] ya'll should be guilty.
21:23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took [them] wives,according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caughtand they went and returned to their inheritance, and repairedthe cities, and dwelt in them.
21:24 And the children of Israel departed there at that time,every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out fromthere every man to his inheritance.
21:25 In those days [there was] no king in Israel every man did[that which was] right in his own eyes.

Judges Index || Main Index

Chapter1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3|| Chapter4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter6 || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8|| Chapter9 || Chapter 10

Chapter11 || Chapter 12 || Chapter 13|| Chapter14 || Chapter 15 || Chapter16 || Chapter 17 || Chapter 18|| Chapter19 || Chapter 20

Chapter21