Judges 21 - Prayer Tents



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Judges 21
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Israel Provides Wives for Benjamin

21The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, "We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin."H376H3478H7650H4709H559H376H5414H1323H1144H802 2Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly.H5971H935H1004H430H1008H3427H6153H6440H430H5375H6963H1058H1065H1419 3"O LORD, God of Israel," they cried out, "why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!"H559H3068H430H3478H3478H3117H259H7626H6485H3478 4Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it.H4283H5971H7925H1129H4196H5927H5930H8002 5Then they said, "Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we held our assembly in the presence of the LORD?" At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the LORD's presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come would be put to death.H1121H3478H559H7626H3478H834H5927H6951H3068H1419H7621H5927H3068H4709H559H4191H4191 6The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, "Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off.H1121H3478H5162H1144H251H559H259H7626H1438H3478H3117 7How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?"H6213H802H3498H7650H3068H5414H1323H802 8So they asked, "Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we assembled in the presence of the LORD?" And they discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had attended the assembly.H559H259H7626H3478H5927H4709H3068H935H376H4264H3003H1568H6951 9For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present.H5971H6485H376H3427H3003H1568 10So the assembly sent 12,000 of their best warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children.H5712H7971H8147H6240H505H376H1121H2428H6680H559H3212H5221H3427H3003H1568H6310H2719H802H2945 11"This is what you are to do," they said. "Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin."H1697H6213H2763H2145H802H4904H3045 12Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found 400 young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.H4672H3427H3003H1568H702H3967H5291H1330H3045H376H4904H2145H935H4264H7887H776H3667 13The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon.H5712H7971H1696H1121H1144H5553H7417H7121H7965 14Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the 400 women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them.H1144H7725H6256H5414H802H2421H802H3003H1568H4672 15The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had made this gap among the tribes of Israel.H5971H5162H1144H3068H6213H6556H7626H3478 16So the elders of the assembly asked, "How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead?H2205H5712H559H6213H802H3498H802H8045H1144 17There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out.H559H3425H6413H1144H7626H4229H3478 18But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God's curse."H3201H5414H802H1323H1121H3478H7650H559H779H5414H802H1144 19Then they thought of the annual festival of the LORD held in Shiloh, south of Lebonah and north of Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem.H559H2282H3068H7887H3117H3117H6828H1008H4217H8121H4546H5927H1008H7927H5045H3829 20They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, "Go and hide in the vineyards.H6680H1121H1144H559H3212H693H3754 21When you see the young women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to the land of Benjamin to be your wife!H7200H1323H7887H3318H2342H4246H3318H3754H2414H376H802H1323H7887H1980H776H1144 22And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, 'Please be sympathetic. Let them have your daughters, for we didn't find wives for all of them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not actually give your daughters to them in marriage.'"H1H251H935H7378H559H2603H3947H376H802H4421H5414H6256H816 23So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. Each man caught one of the women as she danced in the celebration and carried her off to be his wife. They returned to their own land, and they rebuilt their towns and lived in them.H1121H1144H6213H5375H802H4557H2342H1497H3212H7725H5159H1129H5892H3427 24Then the people of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes.H1121H3478H1980H6256H376H7626H4940H3318H376H5159 25In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.H3117H4428H3478H376H6213H3477H5869


New Living Translation (NLT). Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. More details.
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