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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Judges 21 BSB</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/judges/21.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap//judges/21-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">BSB</a> > Judges 21</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/berean/menu.htm" width="100%" height="48" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../judges/20.htm" title="Judges 20">◄</a> Judges 21 <a href="../ruth/1.htm" title="Ruth 1">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">Berean Standard Bible</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/bsb/heb/judges/21.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">Wives for the Benjamites<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.” <A name="3"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly. <A name="4"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>“Why, O LORD God of Israel,” they cried out, “has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!” <A name="5"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings. <A name="6"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah would surely be put to death. <A name="7"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>And the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites, and said, “Today a tribe is cut off from Israel. <A name="8"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>What should we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?” <A name="9"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>So they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?” And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. <A name="10"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>For when the people were counted, none of the residents of Jabesh-gilead were there. <A name="11"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>So the congregation sent 12,000 of their most valiant men and commanded them: “Go and put to the sword those living in Jabesh-gilead, including women and children. <A name="12"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.” <A name="13"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young women who had not had relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. <A name="14"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Then the whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon. <A name="15"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>And at that time the Benjamites returned and were given the women who were spared from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough women for all of them. <A name="16"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel. <A name="17"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Then the elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” <A name="18"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>They added, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. <A name="19"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>But we cannot give them our daughters as wives.” <p class="reg"> For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite.” <A name="20"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>“But look,” they said, “there is a yearly feast to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” <A name="21"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>So they commanded the Benjamites: “Go, hide in the vineyards <A name="22"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. <A name="23"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favor by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.’” <A name="24"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>The Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled in them. <A name="25"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>And at that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and clan, each to his own inheritance. <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/judges/21-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> Forms of the Hebrew <i>cherem</i> refer to the giving over of things or persons to the LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.<br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><a href=http://bereanbible.com>Berean Standard Bible (BSB)</a> printed 2016, 2020, 2022, 2025 by <a href=http://biblehub.com>Bible Hub</a> and <a href=http://berean.bible>Berean.Bible</a>. 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