1Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter to a Benjamite for a wife.” 2And the people came to the house of God at Bethel, and sat before God until evening, and wept bitterly, 3And said, “O LORD God of Israel, why has this happened to Israel, that one tribe is missing from Israel?” 4And the people rose early the next day, built an altar, and offered burnt and peace offerings there. 5And the people of Israel asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel failed to come up with the assembly unto the LORD?” For at that assembly they had made this solemn oath about any who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah: “He shall surely be put to death.” 6And the people of Israel still were grieved for Benjamin, their brother, and said, “One tribe from Israel is cut off this day. 7What can we do to provide wives for those Benjamites who survive, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?” 8And so they inquired, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD?” And they discovered that none from Jabesh-gilead had come to the assembly. 9For when they had counted the people, they found that none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead were there.

10And the assembly sent twelve thousand of their most valiant men there, with these orders to put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to death (per their oath in verse 5), including women and children: 11“This is what you shall do. You must destroy every male, and every woman who has slept with a man. 12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, who had never slept with a man; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, in the land of Canaan. 13And then the assembly sent a peace delegation to speak to the surviving Benjamite men who were still staying at the rock of Rimmon. 14And so those surviving descendants of Benjamin returned to their homes at that time; and they gave the women taken from Jabesh-gilead to them for wives; but even so, there were not enough women for all of the men.

15And the people grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, because the LORD had made this gap within the tribes of Israel. 16Then the elders of the congregation asked, “How shall we find wives for the others, since the women of Benjamin are dead?” 17And they said, “The survivors of Benjamin must have heirs, so that a tribe of Israel is not blotted out. 18And yet, we may not give our daughters to them for wives; because we Israelites have sworn, saying, ‘Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.’” 19Then they said, “Look, there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh, in a place on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah. 20So tell the descendants of Benjamin, ‘Go there and hide in wait in the vineyards; 21And if the daughters of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, come out of hiding in the vineyards, and each of you catch a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh; and then return to your land of Benjamin. 22And when their fathers or brothers come to complain to us, we will tell them, “Please be sympathetic to them for our sakes, because we failed to preserve wives for each man when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead; and you would not actually be guilty of breaking your vow, because you did not voluntarily give them to them.”’” 23And the descendants of Benjamin did accordingly, each taking a wife they caught from among those who danced; and then they returned to their inheritance, rebuilt the cities, and settled in them. 24And then the Israelites returned from there, each to his own tribe and family, and to their own inheritance.

25In those days there was no king in Israel; each man did what was right in his own eyes.