Judges 21
1 Now the children of Israel swore in
Massephath, saying, No man of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin for a
wife. 2 And the people came to Bæthel,
and sat there until evening before God: and they lifted up their voice and
wept with a great weeping; 3 and said,
Wherefore, O Lord God of Israel, has this come to pass, that to-day one tribe
should be counted as missing from Israel?
4 And it came to pass on the morrow
that the people rose up early, and built there an altar, and offered up
whole-burnt-offerings and
aSee chap 20. 26.peace-offerings.
5 And the children of Israel said, Who
of all the tribes of Israel, went not up in the congregation to the Lord? for
there was a great oath concerning those who went not up to the Lord to
Massephath, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
6 And the children of Israel
bOr, comforted themselves, or were comforted.relented toward Benjamin their brother, and said, To-day one tribe is cut off
from Israel. 7 What shall we do for
wives for the rest that remain? whereas we have sworn by the Lord, not to give
them of our daughters for wives. 8 And
they said, What one man is there of the tribes of
Israel, who went not up to the Lord to Massephath? and, behold, no man came to
the camp from Jabis Galaad to the assembly.
9 And the people were numbered, and
there was not there a man from the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad.
10 And the congregation sent thither
twelve thousand men of the
cGr. sons of strength.strongest, and they charged them, saying, Go ye and smite the inhabitants of
Jabis Galaad with the
dGr. mouth.edge of the sword. 11 And this shall
ye do: every male and every woman that has known the lying with man ye shall
devote to destruction, but the virgins ye shall save
alive: and they did so.
12 And they found
eGr. from, out of.among the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad four hundred young virgins, who had not
known man by lying with him; and they brought them to Selom in the land of
Chanaan.
13 And all the congregation sent and
spoke to the children of Benjamin in the rock Remmon, and invited them to
make peace.
14 And Benjamin returned to the
children of Israel at that time, and the children of Israel gave them the
women whom they had saved alive of the daughters of
Jabis Galaad; and
fGr. it pleased them thus.they were content.
15 And the people
gGr. See ver. 6.relented for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of
Israel.
16 And the elders of the congregation
said, What shall we do for wives for them that remain? for the women have been
destroyed out of Benjamin. 17 And
they said, There must be an inheritance of them that
are escaped of Benjamin; and so a tribe shall not be
destroyed out of Israel. 18 For we
shall not be able to give them wives of our daughters, because we swore among
the children of Israel, saying, Cursed is he that
gives a wife to Benjamin.
19 And they said, Lo! now
there is a feast of the Lord
hGr. from days to days. Hebraism.from year to year in Selom, which is on the north of Bæthel, eastward on the
way that goes up from Bæthel to Sychem, and from the south of Lebona.
20 And they charged the children of
Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 and ye shall see; and lo! if there
come out the daughters of the inhabitants of Selom to dance in dances, then
shall ye go out of the vineyards and seize for yourselves every man a wife of
the daughters of Selom, and go ye into the land of Benjamin.
22 And it shall come to pass, when
their fathers or their brethren come to dispute with us, that we will say to
them, Grant them freely to us, for we have not taken every man his wife in the
battle: because ye did not give to them
iTranslated from Alex.according to the occasion, ye transgressed.
23 And the children of Benjamin did
so; and they took wives according to their number from the dancers whom they
seized: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities,
and dwelt in them. 24 And the
children of Israel
jGr. walked.went thence at that time every man to his tribe and his kindred; and they
went thence every man to his inheritance.
25 And in those days there was no
king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own sight.