21When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the LORD: "None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours."H376H3478H7650H4709H559H376H5414H1323H1144H8022So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned: 07Jdg 21:3 " LORD God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?"H5971H935H1004H430H1008H3427H6153H6440H430H5375H6963H1058H1065H14194Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole.H4283H5971H7925H1129H4196H5927H5930H80025They asked, "Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the LORD's presence at Mizpah?" (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.)H1121H3478H559H7626H3478H834H5927H6951H3068H1419H7621H5927H3068H4709H559H4191H41916The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, "Today Israel has lost one of its tribes.H1121H3478H5162H1144H251H559H259H7626H1438H3478H31177What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters."H6213H802H3498H7650H3068H5414H1323H8028When they asked if there was some group out of the tribes of Israel that had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there;H559H259H7626H3478H5927H4709H3068H935H376H4264H3003H1568H69519at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded.H5971H6485H376H3427H3003H156810So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, "Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children.H5712H7971H8147H6240H505H376H1121H2428H6680H559H3212H5221H3427H3003H1568H6310H2719H802H294511Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin."H1697H6213H2763H2145H802H4904H304512They found four hundred young virgins among the people in Jabesh, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.H4672H3427H3003H1568H702H3967H5291H1330H3045H376H4904H2145H935H4264H7887H776H366713Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war.H5712H7971H1696H1121H1144H5553H7417H7121H796514The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them.H1144H7725H6256H5414H802H2421H802H3003H1568H467215The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the LORD had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel.H5971H5162H1144H3068H6213H6556H7626H347816So the leaders of the gathering said, "There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left?H2205H5712H559H6213H802H3498H802H8045H114417Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive,H559H3425H6413H1144H7626H4229H347818but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters."H3201H5414H802H1323H1121H3478H7650H559H779H5414H802H114419Then they thought, "The yearly festival of the LORD at Shiloh is coming soon." (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.)H559H2282H3068H7887H3117H3117H6828H1008H4217H8121H4546H5927H1008H7927H5045H382920They told the Benjaminites, "Go and hide in the vineyardsH6680H1121H1144H559H3212H693H375421and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you.H7200H1323H7887H3318H2342H4246H3318H3754H2414H376H802H1323H7887H1980H776H114422If their fathers or brothers come to you and protest, you can tell them, 'Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. And since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.' "H1H251H935H7378H559H2603H3947H376H802H4421H5414H6256H81623The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there.H1121H1144H6213H5375H802H4557H2342H1497H3212H7725H5159H1129H5892H342724At the same time the rest of the Israelites left, and every man went back to his own tribe and family and to his own property.H1121H3478H1980H6256H376H7626H4940H3318H376H515925There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.H3117H4428H3478H376H6213H3477H5869