Judges 21

Trying to Fix What They Broke

1 The men of Israel had made a serious vow: “None of us will ever let our daughters marry a man from Benjamin.”

2 Then the people came to Bethel and sat in God’s presence until evening. They cried loud, brokenhearted.

3 They said, “Lord God of Israel, why did this happen, One whole tribe of Israel gone?”

A Plan to Keep Benjamin from Dying Out

4 The next day they built an altar and gave offerings to God, peace offerings and burnt sacrifices.

5 Then they asked, “Who did not show up for the Lord at Mizpah?” They had made a vow to kill anyone who did not show.

6 Israel felt for Benjamin. “One of our own brothers is wiped out,” they said.

7 They asked, “What we supposed to do, We cannot give our daughters to them, we made a vow.”

Jabesh-gilead Gets Targeted

8 Somebody said, “Listen, nobody is from Jabesh-gilead showed up at Mizpah.”

9 They did a roll call, and confirmed it. No one from Jabesh-gilead came.

10 So the assembly sent 12,000 fighters to Jabesh-gilead with orders: “Kill every man and every woman who is not a virgin.”

11 The command was: “Wipe out the city, only keep the young virgin girls alive.”

12 They found 400 young virgins and brought them back to the Israelite camp at Shiloh.

Trying to Patch Things Up

13 Then the people sent word to the remaining Benjaminites hiding at Rimmon Rock, and offered peace.

14 The 600 survivors came back, and Israel gave them the 400 virgins from Jabesh-gilead. But it still was not enough.

15 The people were still grieved for Benjamin. One tribe of Israel was almost gone.

16 The elders said, “We still got a problem. How we are going to find wives for the rest of them?”

17 “Benjamin’s must survive, we cannot let a whole tribe vanish from Israel.”

18 “But we cannot break our vow. We already swore not to give them our daughters.”

19 Somebody said, “Hold up, there is that festival every year at Shiloh, north of Bethel, east of the road to Lebonah.”

A Wild Backup Plan

20 So they told the Benjaminites, “Here is the move, go hide in the vineyards.”

21 “When the young women come out to dance, each of you all snatch one and run back to Benjamin’s land with her as your wife.”

22 “If their daddies or brothers complain, we will say, ‘Let it ride, we did not give our daughters to them, they took them. So technically we did not break our vow.’”

23 So that is what the Benjaminites did. They each snatched a dancer and took her back home. They rebuilt their towns and moved back in.

Everyone Goes Home

24 After that, the rest of the Israelites went home, tribe by tribe, clan by clan.

No King, No Order

25 In those days, Israel had no king. Everybody just did whatever they thought was right.