Judges 21:1-12 ▼

1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, |There shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin as wife.|

2 The people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely.

3 They said, |LORD God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?|

4 It happened on the next day that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

5 The children of Israel said, |Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?| For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, |He shall surely be put to death.|

6 The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, |There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.

7 How shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?|

8 They said, |What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?| Look, no one came to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.

9 For when the people were numbered, look, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there.

10 The congregation sent there twelve thousand men of the most valiant, and commanded them, saying, |Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.

11 This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has slept with a man, but the virgins you are to keep alive.| And they did so.

12 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 to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.