211 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah , saying , "None e of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage ." 2 So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening , and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly e . 3 They said , "Why , O Lord , God of Israel , has this come about in Israel , so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel ?" 4 It came about the next day that the people arose early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings . 5 Then the sons 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 taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah , saying , "He shall surely be put to death ." 6 And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said , "One tribe is cut off from Israel today . 7 "What shall we do for wives for those who are left , since we have sworn by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage ?" 8 And they said , "What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah ?" And behold , no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead e to the assembly . 9 For when the people were numbered , behold , not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead e was there . 10 And the congregation sent 12,000 e e of the valiant warriors there , and commanded them, saying , "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead e 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 man and every woman who has lain e with a man ." 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead e 400 e young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh , which is in the land of Canaan . 13 Then the whole congregation sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon , and proclaimed peace to them. 14 Benjamin returned at that time , and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead e ; yet they were not enough for them. 15 And the people were sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel .
16 Then the elders of the congregation said , "What shall we do for wives for those who are left , since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin ?" 17 They said , "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin , so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel . 18 "But we cannot e give them wives of our daughters ." For the sons of Israel had sworn , saying , "Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin ." 19 So they said , "Behold , there is a feast of the Lord from year to year in Shiloh , which is on the north side of Bethel , on the east e side e of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem , and on the south side of Lebonah ." 20 And they commanded the sons of Benjamin , saying , "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards , 21 and watch ; and behold , if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances , then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh , and go to the land of Benjamin . 22 "It shall come about, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, 'Give them to us voluntarily , because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle , nor e did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty .' " 23 The sons of Benjamin did so , and took wives according to their number from those who danced , whom they carried away . And they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them. 24 The sons of Israel departed from there at that time , every man to his tribe and family , and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance . 25 In those days there was no king in Israel ; everyone did what was right in his own eyes .
