Judges 21

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 The men of Israel had sworn this oath at Mizpah, 'None of us is to give his daughter in marriage toBenjamin.'	1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
2 The people went to Bethel and stayed there until evening, sitting before God and raising their voices,made a great lament,	2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
3 and exclaiming, 'Yahweh, God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel that a tribe should be missingfrom Israel today?	3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?
4 The next day the people got up early and built an altar there; they presented burnt offerings andcommunion sacrifices.	4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 The Israelites then said, 'Out of al the tribes of Israel, who has not come to Yahweh, to the assembly?'-- for they had sworn a solemn oath that anyone who did not come to Yahweh at Mizpah would certainly die.	5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
6 Now the Israelites felt sorry about Benjamin their brother. 'Today', they said, 'a tribe has beenamputated from Israel.	6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
7 What shall we do to provide wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by Yahweh not to givethem any of our own daughters in marriage?'	7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
8 They then asked, 'Out of the tribes of Israel, who is it that has not come to Yahweh at Mizpah?' It wasdiscovered that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly;	8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.
9 for, a muster having been cal ed of the people, none of the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead waspresent.	9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
10 The community then despatched twelve thousand of their bravest men there, with these orders: 'Goand slaughter all the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead, including the women and children.	10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
11 This is what you are to do. Al males and al those women who have ever slept with a man, you wilput under the curse of destruction, but the lives of the virgins you wil spare.' And this they did.	11 And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
12 Among the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead they found four hundred young virgins who had neverslept with a man, and brought them to the camp (to Shiloh in the territory of Canaan).	12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 The whole community then sent messengers to offer peace to the Benjaminites who were at the Rockof Rimmon.	13 And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.
14 Benjamin then came home: they were given those of the women of Jabesh in Gilead whose lives hadbeen spared, but there were not enough for al .	14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
15 The people felt sorry about Benjamin, Yahweh having made a breach in the tribes of Israel.	15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16 And the elders of the community said, 'What shall we do to provide wives for the survivors, since thewomen of Benjamin have been wiped out?'	16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?
17 They went on, 'How can we preserve a remnant for Benjamin so that a tribe may not be lost to Israel?	17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
18 We cannot give them our own daughters in marriage' -- for the Israelites had taken an oath,'Accursed be the man who gives a wife to Benjamin!'	18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
19 'However,' they said, 'there is the feast of Yahweh, held every year at Shiloh.' (The town lies north ofBethel, east of the highway that runs from Bethel up to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.)	19 Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
20 So they told the Benjaminites to do as fol ows, 'Put yourselves in ambush in the vineyards.	20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 Keep watch: when the girls of Shiloh come out in groups to dance, you then come out of thevineyards, each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and make for Benjaminite territory.	21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22 If their fathers or brothers come and complain to us, we shall say, "Let us have them, since we couldnot take wives for everyone in the battle; and you could not give them to them, or you would then have beenguilty." '	22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.
23 The Benjaminites did this and, from the dancers whom they caught, took as many wives as therewere men and then, setting off, went back to their heritage, rebuilt the towns and settled down in them.	23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
24 The Israelites then dispersed, each man to rejoin his tribe and clan, each leaving that place for hisown heritage.	24 And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did as he saw fit.	25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.