Judges 21:1-12 ▼

1 The men of Israel had taken this oath in Mizpah: |None of us will ever let our daughters marry anyone from Benjamin.|

2 The people went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. They cried very loudly,

3 |LORD God of Israel, why has this happened among us? Why should one tribe be missing today in Israel?|

4 The next day the people got up early. They built an altar there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

5 The people asked, |Is there any family from Israel that did not take part in the assembly in the presence of the LORD?| They had taken a solemn oath that whoever had not come into the presence of the LORD at Mizpah must be put to death.

6 The people of Israel felt sorry for their close relatives, the men of Benjamin. They said, |Today one tribe has been excluded from Israel.

7 What will we do to provide wives for the men who are left? We swore to the LORD that we would not let any of our daughters marry them.|

8 Then they asked, |Is there any family from Israel that did not come into the presence of the LORD at Mizpah?| No one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the assembly in the camp.

9 So they questioned the people, and there was no one there from Jabesh Gilead.

10 The congregation sent 12,000 soldiers. They ordered them, |Go and kill the people of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and children.

11 These are your directions: Claim every female who has gone to bed with a man, and claim every male. Claim them for the LORD by destroying them.|

12 Among the people of Jabesh Gilead they found 400 unmarried women who had never gone to bed with a man. They brought them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.